Resilio

Backup Network Version Number I Forget

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I’ve been writing a lot about my tech setup lately because I’ve done quite a bit of work on it. I’ve been meaning to share my current private cloud backup setup for a while now.

The backbone of my private cloud network is still Resilio Sync. While I rely on it a bit less these days, it remains a core part of my strategy.

Right now, I’m using Resilio to replicate a full set of data from my Synology DiskStation to a Raspberry Pi 4. I also replicate a subset of this data—everything except the media center—to an SSD on my laptop. Soon, I plan to set up another Pi 4 as a backup for the same subset of data I have on my laptop.

At this point, I no longer keep any replica data at friends’ houses. I probably should, but when my last setup failed, my friend had to bring the device back to me when he visited from the States. Ultimately, it wasn’t worth buying new gear just to ship it back to him. Instead, I signed up for Amazon Glacier Deep Archive (or whatever they’re calling it now). It’s a cheap, long-term storage option where data is locked in for six months without modification or deletion options. My Synology DiskStation has a built-in client that made it easy to set up a backup of my personal data to Glacier. I still need to test a restore, but for now, I see Glacier as my remote storage solution. At about $1 per terabyte per month, nothing else comes close to that price. Setting up another Pi with a friend would cost around $150–$200, which makes Glacier far more cost-effective over a three-year period.

Because I’m still a bit unsure about restoring from Glacier, I’ve also started using Proton Drive for critical data, including my entire family photo and video library. Once I’ve uploaded the photos, that dataset stays pretty static, so Proton Drive makes sense. With our 3TB plan, I can gradually copy large, mostly unchanging files that I want securely backed up. Since there’s no automated way to sync this, it’s not my primary backup, but it adds another layer of protection.

Recently, with T in high school (or middle school if we were in the States), she’s been using the computer more often. It made sense to subscribe to the family plan of Office 365, which gives each of us 1TB of storage on OneDrive. I’m experimenting with Cryptomator encryption to securely store a subset of our backups on OneDrive. I still need to fully implement this, but it’s something I plan to sort out soon.

In addition to these replica copies, I take monthly RSYNC snapshots to a separate directory on my DiskStation. I have two scripts—one for odd months and one for even months—so I always have two recent copies. I also keep an annual copy of everything. It’s a bit less automated, but it works.

I’m also considering setting up another Pi as a remote Resilio node. Another option is to get a storage VPS again. The previous deal I had expired, so I canceled it last year. That’s partly why I’ve been relying less on remote Resilio replicas. When I got rid of my last remote Pi, I switched to a VPS running Resilio. Now, I’m debating whether it’s worth setting up another VPS instead of piecing together backups the way I have been. At around $80 per year for 2TB, it’s an option I’m keeping open.

Overall, the system works. When I had a catastrophic failure on my DiskStation before upgrading to my current one, I was able to verify that all my data was backed up somewhere. In the end, I didn’t need to restore because I managed to salvage the array on the DiskStation, but it was a valuable exercise to go through.

UPDATE: I wrote this before Christmas. Since then I have built a new Pi with a 2TB SSD and need to deploy it somewhere other than our house as a backup. I have also found a new cheap(ish) VPS storage provider. I have a 2TB VPS in Germany were I am now replicating my main Reslio shares to. I have stopped using Glacial since i haven’t been able to properly test it.  It is still by far the cheapest backup option out there however without being able to verify it works to easily fully recover i was a bit concerned.  The new VPS i have is a few pounds more per month but not outrageously expensive.

The Story of My Upgrade Partially Pi Powered Backup Network

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I have written a few posts on using Resilio Sync to replicate my personal data as a backup network. Currently I have several nodes running at home on various devices. I have one remote nodes running. It is on a VPS that I may write about in more detail separately. I had another remote Pi at a friends house for years. With the cost of the VPS being so cheap and easier to manage remotely I gave up on the extra node with my friend.

Instead I have 2 Pi’s running Resilio at home. In addition to a ODROID HC2 and instances on my laptop and NAS. Every device does not have all the data on it except for the NAS. Some of the shares are so big I had to shard them out. Only the NAS has all the data. However all of my data is replicated at least twice in the house. All, but my videos are replicated to the VPS.

I also started using Amazon Glacial Deep Freeze to backup (approx $1 per tb) some shares. Deep Freeze is so cheap my intention is to add bigger shares to backup. I just have not gotten around to it yet.

The Raspberry Pi’s photographed are the Pi 2’s (white cases) and Pi 3’s (Grey cases). The current generation of Pi’s I am running are two Pi 4’s. One with four gigs of RAM and the other with eight. I have a third Pi 4 with four gigs of RAM that I am playing around with alternative configurations on. I still have the second and third generation Pi’s. I use the third-generation ones periodically. Most recently one was a dedicated Pi-hole, however I recently stopped using it.

Pull disclosure, pictured is the older P2 and P3’s.