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I'm in need of some help finding a good backup solution for my homelab. Currently I'm running a TrueNAS Core server with about 10 TB of backup storage available. I used to backup my Windows machines using Acronis True Image, however I want to get away from running the backup directly on the workstations and move that workload to the server if I can. So, a server to client approach would be nice, tell me if I'm crazy for wanting this in my home lab. Currently, I have one Windows 10 workstation, one Linux workstation that is being used as a Minecraft server, and a VM running Linux for my NextCloud environment and a Jail for Plex. I do plan to be adding more VM's and Jails as I get the priority services up and running in my homelab. I primarily like to use Ubuntu as my Linux server of choice if that helps sway the thought process. I've looked into different solutions such as running VEEAM on a Windows server 2019 VM in TrueNAS, however VEEAM must not like the bhyve environment because it will always fail during the SQL install and I can't figure out why. I've looked into the Asigra plugin and simply didn't like it because it felt unintuitive and the fact that it was using Java, no thank you. I've looked at some of the other backup plugins in TrueNAS and wasn't really impressed, but maybe that's what you get with free? If anyone has any sort of suggestions or can point me in the right direction on how I can approach backing up all of my servers and workstations to my NAS, would be greatly appreciated. In the end, if it makes more sense to just run backup software on the workstations and servers themselves then what kind of good Linux back solutions are out there that I could use? Thanks

hello, I have a server (specs are in my signature) that is hosting my website and my emby media server I have decided that I want to actually backup my desktop and laptop because i dont have backups right now I want to use it to make a network drive that I can mount over my vpn and backup my computers to it I want to buy 8tb drives for this. it looks like the cheepest way to get 8tb drives is to extract them from usb external hard drives I want to be able to expand the volume I am backing up to by adding more 8tb drives in the future im not sure but it is my understanding that with raid if you want to expand a volume you have to delete the old one and make a new one with the extra drives so I was thinking I would get this card that just makes sata ports from PCI and put it in my server https://www.amazon.com/IO-Crest-Controller-Non-Raid-SI-PEX40064/dp/B00AZ9T3OU/ I want it so every other drive I add to it is like this first one is capacityh and second is parity so I buy the 1st 8tb drive and i have an 8tb volume then I buy the second 8tb drive install it and run whatever commands expands the volume and I strill have my stuff and its still 8tb but I now have parity then I buy a thirds 8tb drive and now I have 16tb but only half of it has parity then I buy a 4th one and I have 16tb with full parity or maybe theres a better way to do that where for every 8tb drive I add I only get 4tb of usable space I have no clue is there a filesystem in debian that will do this for me? I have no clue what the proper words for this are to find the information I need apart from what I learned from the petobyte project video if you could lead me to a tutorial for how to set something like this up that would be great sunnary of main features: * ability to add blank disks without loosing any data already in the array * automatic drive parity * ability to swap out a single dead drive and run a comand and not loose anything PS: i really liked how in the LTT video he said "so to set this up you just run this command and it scans all the drives and sets them up in the best way to maximise storage space but have parity and if you add drives or swap drives just run the command again" if anyone could help me with this it would be greately appreciated

So, ever since I went to format a USB flash drive and accidentally formatted half a terabyte of useless pictures, games, and music I've been wanting to build a storage server or four for my whole family to use. I want it so each person has their own 10TB hard drive encrypted with their own password so only they can access them and automatic backups for all the devices. I don't know if i should have one sever with four virtual copies of something like FreeNAS or have four separate servers, i would more like to have four separate servers so when the time comes I can move one to another location. On the network I'm looking to backup five iOS devices, three PCs with one running two user accounts, one mac, two android devices, and in the future some Linux Machines. Some cheap hardware suggestions would be highly appreciated since i don't even have a rack yet. Also two of the three PCs and the Mac are wired into the router, everything else is wireless. Thanks!

Hi Guys, This is my first post, i have read a lot of articles and blogs about NAS, HTPC and servers but i haven't really found what i am looking for. So I have been planning on building my own NAS/PC for a while now but my main problem is making all the things I need to work. i have a WD EX2 NAS which is great but it doesn't allow you to control everything. here are the things that i look into when having a NAS. 1) I want a NAS where I can store and access my data from anywhere in the world (Read and Write). 2) I want it to consume the least amount of electricity. 3) have Plex media server, kodi etc.. on it and other things. 4) be able to backup my phones, tablets, laptops and computers on it. 5) I want to be able to upload and download anything from it. 6) I want to be able to create accounts for each user of my household with different restrictions to everyone. 7) can be used as a normal computer for small task (i prefer windows). 8) be able to upgrade, expand and add more HDDs in the future (check below). 9) it would be great if I can remote access it. 10) have an onboard GPU. 11) doesn't cost me a lot of money. Here is what I came up with feel free to comment and give me your opinions. http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/JGKt3F PC case: i chose the Sharkoon T9 because it has 9 5.25" drive bays that i can use the additional closure mentioned below as it will allow me to add up to 15 hdd in the future. Additional closures: i chose the ICY DOCK MB975SP-B Tray-less 5 Bay 3.5 as it maximizes the space of 3 drive bays into 5 hot swappable Hdd. HDDs: i would go with the WD Red Hdd as they are reliable for NAS use. Motherboard: i chose the ASRock Z87 Extreme6/ac as it has 4 memory slots (32 GB), raid support, 10 SATA 6GB/S, HDMI in, HDMI out, DisplayPort and Intel® Dual Gigabit LAN with Teaming + it has Home Cloud and ASRock APP Shop. Processor: i want a powerful processor, cheap, minimum power use, can allow me to stream more than stream on plex and transcoding + of course the supporting a normal PC use. Rams: i don't mind fully upgrading them to 32 GB but i can start with 8GB or 16 GB. SSD's: not sure. Power supply: not sure. Software: not sure. let me know what do you think and feel free to suggest or recommend any products.

Hey Guys. I have had some data loss issues in the past, and am now setting up a home server from an old Ivy bridge PC. The hardware part is no problem for me, but i am having trouble choosing the right software for my desired setup. I included a little sketch for clarity but here is what I'm trying to accomplish, listed by priority: 1. I want to use the server as a secure location for our 2 PCs to back themselves up to. For that i will run two 1TB hard drives in RAID 1. 2. I want to use the server as a NAS for game-files and the so such. For that i will either just use an old 2TB disk or build a JBOD array with some more old hard drives. 3. Id like to set up a Plex server to be access by our TV. But this isn't super important to me, more of a bonus. For the server itself I was gonna use FreeNAS, but I'd be willing to buy Unraid if you guys deem it better for my usecase. What I really need help with is the backup software. I want the software to make backups of our 2 PCs on a regular basis (once or twice a week) and I want it to automatically delete old backups so that we always have 2 or 3 weeks of backups available. It should obviously be able to use NAS as its backup directory. I am ok with paying something upfront for the software but i don't prefer a subscription based solution. If you need any further information, I will gladly provide it. Thank you guys very much! - Sandro

Hello all, I need some serious help with a build coming up. My plan is to install a computer at an offsite location whos only job is to run CrashPlan as a destination for a few computers a client needs backed up. (Really, it has to use CrashPlan as thats what they already have installed in their infrastructure unless you guys have a VASTLY superior solution that would be worth changing their entire setup...) As of now, I am thinking a simple 2x4TB drives in Raid 1. Therefore I need a system that supports Raid from the mobo preferably, a fast enough processor to keep things running smoothly 24/7/365, and anything else that would make sure its reliable and fast. It needs to stay relatively cheap (I'm shooting for under $750, under $500 would be great!) but Ill spend what needs to be spent for the right computer. What should I start looking for in terms of hardware, gosh I barely know where to start. Can you guys point me to what I need to look for? Im assuming: A Small (Micro ATX or Mini ITX would be nice), super reliable motherboard w/ raid support A cheap processor? I assume I don't need anything beefy for simple backup. (New Pentium chips? G3258) How much RAM, 4gb good? ECC?? 2x4TB WD Red's sound good? Thank you so much, sorry for sounding like an idiot... but the community has been so helpful before, love all you guys. -SER