I got about 14 Terabytes of media files on my unraid server that I would like to backup. Is there an online backup service that someone could recommend? I have heard of crashplan but was curious if my size requirements would be too much for the "unlimited" plan. Imagine the initial backup to take weeks or months. Will me constatly adding and removing files during this affect the backup of a service you recommend ?

I got about 14 Terabytes of media files on my unraid server that I would like to backup. Is there an online backup service that someone could recommend?

What is the upload speed on your internet connection, and do you have monthly data caps?

For 14TB (and growing) I don't think a cloud backup is viable unless you have very high bandwidth fibre connection to the internet.  I'd back up to local disks, or to a 2nd UnRAID server.

 

I got about 14 Terabytes of media files on my unraid server that I would like to backup. Is there an online backup service that someone could recommend? I have heard of crashplan but was curious if my size requirements would be too much for the "unlimited" plan. Imagine the initial backup to take weeks or months. Will me constatly adding and removing files during this affect the backup of a service you recommend ?

 

Crashplan will take it. I've seen numerous reports on other fora and on the crashplan support site itself of people having 10-20+TB stored.

 

You'll be an outlier I suspect but notionally if you can give it to them they will take it. For now anyway!

 

You'll be able to calculate the length of time it should optimally take yourself based on your uplink speed. I would suspect months might be a bit optimistic though...!

 

Adding and removing files will be fine. Crashplan will attempt to backup the newest created or modified files first. Your only issue will be if you're removing files / adding files faster than you can upload the changes. i.e if your churn rate exceeds your upstream. You'll have that problem with any backup.

As I noted earlier, for the data volume you've noted you're far better off with local storage unless you have a VERY high uplink speed (which most of us do not).    Evan at 2Mb/s (which would be very good with most providers), and assuming continuous uploads at the maximum rate with NO interruptions, you're looking at 46.296 days/TB ... or about 648 days for 14 TB.

 

Even if you happen to have Verizon FIOS with 16Mb upload, it would still take over 81 days ... and that is assuming 100% utilization at full speed for the entire time 

... and that's a real outlier in upload speeds ==> as you can see from this chart of 2012 capabilities:  http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410327,00.asp

 

Bottom line:  With any ISP except Verizon FIOS, it'll take at least a year to upload 14TB, and more likely close to 2 years.

 

... AND that's assuming none of your data changed during those 2 years and had to be re-uploaded 

 

With TB of data doing your own local backups is a FAR better plan.    I'd just build a backup server and use Crashplan (or any of the other freely available synchronization utilities) to automate the backups.    Note that for local backups you can use the free version of Crashplan.

 

 

 

Just checked the Verizon FIOS site, and if you happen to have access to their newest fiber systems, you can get up to 65Mb/s uploads !!  (For $130/month with a 2 year commitment ... so you're committing to $3120 plus taxes for your internet for those 2 years)

 

If you had this, you could upload 14TB in just 20 days !!  IF Crashplan didn't throttle you; and IF you got full bandwidth the entire time.

 

As I said before, go with a local backup server !! 

What's a "cloud"?

(I've given up trying to learn the kids' jargon a long time ago, sometime around the time civilization ended -- around 1999)

 

Current marketing term for anything connected to the internet. If IMAP was released as a protocol today it would be sold as a cloud email solution.

 

In theory it's to do with being quickly, easily and transparently flexible / expandable but decent infrastructure has been doing that for years before 'cloud' came along. And most places sell as 'cloud' without coming anywhere near that definition.

What's a "cloud"?

(I've given up trying to learn the kids' jargon a long time ago, sometime around the time civilization ended -- around 1999)

 

Update your profile so we can tell just how "old" a fart you are 

 

... the "cloud" means storage on the internet, as opposed to your local network.  Microsoft's SkyDrive, Apple's iCloud, or any of the various storage providers who specialize in backups [Carbonite, CrashPlan, etc.].