Backup Solutions?

[SlashedM]

Mods, I apologize if this post should be in Server/NAS.

 

So I have about a good 2.5 almost 3 TB used on my gaming PC alone, while most of this is gaming files, I do want to keep backups of vanilla files I dont always want to redownload a game (thanks data caps)

 

But it got me wondering, what would be the best choice for backup?

 

Now I do have a good probably 1TB of actual personal data, the issue is that they are all over the place.

 

So I was wondering, would would be my best course of a backup would be. Now the cheapest one would just be grabbing a WD Passport and hooking up to a pi, but I was wondering if that was really the best way to do this.

 

I need something that would be able to backup a Macbook Air, files in my Gaming PC, and potentially photos and videos that are taken on an iPhone (although iCloud so)

 

I would prefer at least 4TB, but I can settle on 2TB if its too expensive. I was wondering if I really should push on redundancy. I dont mind slower speeds as its backups for the most part, although it will act as a file transfer method occasionally.

 

My max budget is $250, but Id like to keep it around  $150 and bonus for around $100.

 

Originally I thought to do a 5TB My Passport or a 4TB Ironwolf/WD Red and slap it onto a Raspberry PI 4. I also saw Seagates 8TB backup and I did think about it + a pi.

 

Ethernet is preferred, or at least hooked up to an independent system (Id hate to put it in my gaming rig as it isnt always on)

 

My biggest question is, if this is already meant as a backup, would redundancy still be a good idea?

 

 

Also thinking about upgrading to 2.5 for local networking.

[Bob1733]

Have you got an old pc

[SlashedM]

8 minutes ago, Bob1733 said:

Have you got an old pc

No unfortunately, well, I have a Pentium 4 machine an AIO Lenovo machine, that iirc, only have 1 sata port and no USB 3.0. Although I can probably get a cheap PC from the colleges near by. Thats why I was thinking about the PI.

[Bob1733]

With ur gaming pc how many spare sata data ports do you have left

[SlashedM]

Just now, Bob1733 said:

With ur gaming pc how many spare sata data ports do you have left

2, and then an extra M.2. Id like to have an it outside of my gaming machine though, but worst comes to worse I can handle it

[Bob1733]

Ok mabye ur pi idea is a good idea, another idea is maybe get a synology nas and buy a few drives

[Bob1733]

2 minutes ago, Bob1733 said:

Ok mabye ur pi idea is a good idea, another idea is maybe get a synology nas and buy a few drives

But using a raspberry pi would be cheaper but not as good performance wise

i would say 6-8 cores is a good amount of cores for a home nas but you could get away with a quad core

[SlashedM]

Just now, Bob1733 said:

But using a raspberry pi would be cheaper but not as good performance wise

right thats what i was thinking of, Ill take a look into Synology. any recommendations for the HDD?

[Bob1733]

1 minute ago, SlashedM said:

right thats what i was thinking of, Ill take a look into Synology. any recommendations for the HDD?

I would say seagate ironwolf or barracuda if you won’t have it on 24/7, or wd reds

[SlashedM]

2 minutes ago, Bob1733 said:

I would say seagate ironwolf or barracuda if you won’t have it on 24/7, or wd reds

Alright thanks.

[Bob1733]

7 minutes ago, Bob1733 said:

Ok mabye ur pi idea is a good idea, another idea is maybe get a synology nas and buy a few drives

The good thing about synology, the software comes with many apps that you can use to backup iCloud and other cloud services

[FloRolf]

Yeah I'd honestly say go Synology. It's maybe a little more expensive from the start but at least you get the full package. 

Get something like the ds220j, pair it with two Ironwolf HDD's and you are good to go. 

[Bob1733]

If you have some money left try and buy 8tb total instead of 4tb total so you can mirror them for redundancy