UNRAID Backup/Mirror

[jacob_samd]

I currently use Unraid for my NAS. I am looking for a way to have an unraid server at my own home and at my parents that acts as a backup on both ends. So anything that goes on mine will also mirror to theirs and vice versa. What is the best way to do this? They use the NAS a little bit for looking through old photos and videos plus just general storage. Also any super simple videos or tutorials on doing this would be awesome! Also I have a VPN running so I can access there network and they can access part of mine. Thanks,

[Electronics Wizardy]

I'd probably setup a VPN between the 2 systems. Then you can setup  cron job to sync the data between the servers. I'd look into wireguard for the VPN.

[jacob_samd]

5 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I'd probably setup a VPN between the 2 systems. Then you can setup  cron job to sync the data between the servers. I'd look into wireguard for the VPN.

I can run that all in Docker???

[YoungBlade]

Something important to note is that a mirror is not a backup, because anything that goes wrong with one copy at a software level can also happen to the other one instantly. If someone hacks into your system and encrypts all your files with ransomware, then it will happen in both places.

 

If you want this to be a backup, you should not set it up to run instantly as a mirror. Instead, have it only do a backup once a day, or even once a week. That way, if something goes wrong, you have time to cancel the backup and use it to restore data.

[jacob_samd]

1 minute ago, YoungBlade said:

Something important to note is that a mirror is not a backup, because anything that goes wrong with one copy at a software level can also happen to the other one instantly. If someone hacks into your system and encrypts all your files with ransomware, then it will happen in both places.

 

If you want this to be a backup, you should not set it up to run instantly as a mirror. Instead, have it only do a backup once a day, or even once a week. That way, if something goes wrong, you have time to cancel the backup and use it to restore data.

Didn't even think of that! Thanks for the input!!!

[Electronics Wizardy]

10 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

Something important to note is that a mirror is not a backup, because anything that goes wrong with one copy at a software level can also happen to the other one instantly. If someone hacks into your system and encrypts all your files with ransomware, then it will happen in both places.

 

If you want this to be a backup, you should not set it up to run instantly as a mirror. Instead, have it only do a backup once a day, or even once a week. That way, if something goes wrong, you have time to cancel the backup and use it to restore data.

Over even better use versioning to keep older versions. Then you can roll back to a older copy of the data.

[YoungBlade]

5 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Over even better use versioning to keep older versions. Then you can roll back to a older copy of the data.

Not a bad idea. However, it does both require more space and increases the complexity of the backup scheme.

 

Certainly worth it for mission critical applications in situations where important files change regularly, but for things like backups of games so you don't need to re-download them, or family photos that never change, its utility can be dubious.

 

Whether or not the space usage and hassle is worth it depends on several factors.