Backup Plan (On site, Cloud) & A Bit More

[ChappyEight]

Disclaimer: I did a search and spent a few hours reading through these forums.  Because I'm not that bright, I came away pretty confused.  So, I'm hoping you'll indulge me help set me straight on this topic.

 

TL;DR - Looking to centralize my digital life around the UnRaid server.  A bit confused on how best to do that.

 

I've been successfully running a "test" server for about 2 years now ("test" in that I got Plex set up and then didn't have the time to devote to truly learning Unraid until recently).  Now that I've got a number of plugins and dockers running (shout out to @gridrunner) and I'm beginning to think more critically about how to use my server, I'm trying to reconcile my current modes of operation when it comes to data with how I'd like to operate moving forward relying heavily on my UnRaid server.

 

I have no illusions of being anything more than an UnRaid novice.  While I love to tinker with technology and am likely at least a little bit more saavy than the basic user, I'm an architect professionally, not a computer science guy.  So, I know I'm quite dense in many of these areas.  That said, I'll lay out below how I currently save and store data, not just on UnRaid but just in general.  Then, I'll outline my proposal for what I think I'd like to do as the UnRaid server begins to take on a more central role in my digital life.

 

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Current Data Operations:

• Main PC at home:  I have a separate hard drive on this machine that is strictly a mirror of Dropbox. So, anything that changes there automagically updates to Dropbox.  This is a gigantic security risk right now because it's where I keep my financials, etc.
• Dropbox (1TB plan):  As mentioned above, this is essentially mirrored to one drive on my main PC at home.  It serves as my current backup for all things important digitally.
• Evernote:  Aside from mundane things like taking notes for work and church, I also keep many receipts, etc. here.
• Mobile Devices:  I only add these here because I have ALL photos set to automatically upload to a "to be sorted" folder in Dropbox.  I'd like to maintain this functionality only to the server.
• Laptops:  Currently standalone with no backup, no common file access.
• UnRaid Server: Currently being used strictly as a Plex server.

 

Desired Data Operations (Subject to Change Based on Feedback):

• Main PC at home:  Repurpose the existing 1TB "Dropbox Hard Drive" by installing it into the UnRaid server.  Then, somehow set it to automatically back up the remaining primary hard drive to the server.
• Dropbox (1TB):  Cancel the 1TB monthly plan and abandon the service.
• Evernote:  Move sensitive items/receipts/etc. off this platform and into the server file structure.
• Mobile Devices:  Maintain automatic picture uploading but do so to the UnRaid server instead of Dropbox.
• Laptops:  Backup to the server periodically, common network file access.
• UnRaid Server:  Continue to use a Plex share but add shares as necessary to build my desired file structure.   Ideally I'd do very little on each machine's native HDD's and instead work from the server's file directory.  Also, would like to backup to the cloud, a second server at my parents home, and maybe a second server at home (is that too redundant?)

 

Thoughts After Searching/Researching:

• NextCloud:  It seems as though NextCloud may serve most of my needs here.  I'm in the process of researching further, but from what I can tell it will autoupload pictures to my server from my mobile devices and allow cloud access to my file structure (essentially become a cloud backup).  What I'm unsure about is if this could also serve as my backup as well.  I could be (and am likely) dead wrong here, but it seems that this would also allow me to backup to secondary servers both at home and at my parents home. 
• Krusader:  This seems like a decent manual solution in that I could copy and transfer my data locally to external HDD's, etc.
• Unknown Program:  Not sure how to automatically backup each laptop and PC to the server.  I've seen some stuff about "rclone" but not certain as to if this is the appropriate solution or if this is redundant if using a program like NextCloud.

 

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So, there you have it.  Also, I fully understand that each person does it a little different, probably.  But, since I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, I decided to post anyway.

 

Questions, comments, snarks all welcome and appreciated. 

 

- Chappy

 

ETA: The more I research, it seems that NextCloud may not be the backup storage solution I desire, but I'm not 100% certain about that.  I've seen Duplicati mentioned but I'm not sure if one should use Duplicati to upload to NextCloud or have NextCloud sync with the unraid server then have Duplicati upload to something like Google Drive.  Thoughts? 

ETA2:  To further muddy the waters, it seems that CrashPlan Small Business  plan might be a nice solution.  If I'm thinking correctly, I could have Duplicati backup each of my laptops and PC's to the unraid server, then have CrashPlan Business backup only the unraid server.  This would allow me to essentially backup my entire network at a single machine rate of $10/mo.

[pwm]

Just a quick note. unRAID or whatever NAS product you may find on the net are not a replacement for backup.

 

unRAID can be your main storage server.

But you want important files to be stored on at least two machines - and on at least two locations.

 

First off - any amount of redundancy you might get from parity doesn't help if the PSU breaks and smokes every disk in the machine.

And if your building burns down, it doesn't help if you have your pictures on both the PC and on the unRAID machine - you need a copy that doesn't burn down with the building.

 

So consider to keep some cloud storage - or check if you can store a backup server or at least a USB disk somewhere else. Maybe at work. Maybe at parents and/or children. Best is if the off-site backup allows you to add new files to the off-site backup over the network.

 

Anyway - an off-site backup should be a true backup with versioning. Mirroring of files isn't a good idea. That just means that if you accidentally break a file locally, the mirroring software will happily duplicate the broken file to the cloud server. You don't want multiple copies of a broken file - you want the off-site copy to be unharmed so you can restore the unmodified file.

[ChappyEight]

Thanks @pwm, Appreciate the thoughts on redundancy.  I think we were thinking the same thing.  From my OP, "Also, would like to backup to the cloud, a second server at my parents home, and maybe a second server at home..."

 

Continuing the thought process, I've been reading up on UnRaid/Nextcloud/Letsencrypt combo and I think it's too far over my head for now.  So, as for cloud access, I'll probably just let that go for now.  That said, really all that leaves is to figure out the best way to back up each individual PC on the home network to the unraid server.  Then, how to backup the unraid server to a cloud backup service.  Seems like rclone and duplicati are two of the favorites to handle the latter.

 

I'll keep researching.  Any further advice appreciated.

[plibbitybop]

Also trying to back up a PC to my local unRAID server.  Any further info on this one?

[ChappyEight]

Still no luck here.