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Last active October 12, 2023 06:14
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Results of my backup services research

backup services research

I googled around, especially with site:news.ycombinator.com for backup recommendations. Here are notes on the top hits.

tarsnap

http://www.tarsnap.com/

  • by prolific HN member; focus on encryption and deduplication
  • awkward setup of encryption keys
  • $0.30/GB/month, not including transfer fees
  • automatic deduplication of identical files "across time and space"
  • no automatic deletion of old backups (will get expensive fast!)
  • only prepaid billing, with a few days warning when you run low
  • after 7 days of negative balance, ACCOUNT DELETED AUTOMATICALLY
  • commandline API that's like "tar" but automatically rsynced; "no need to worry about versioning"
  • push based (you have to run cron on every machine)
  • no real WEB UI, no email notifications on failure or stale backups

rsync.net

http://rsync.net

  • "backend to rsync", been around for 12 years
  • special pricing: $0.10/GB/month; requires $60 prepay: http://www.rsync.net/products/git-annex-pricing.html
  • otherwise $.30/GB/month, with free xfer and 7 daily snapshots.
  • They charge for max quota, not usage; but you can instantly modify quota via admin panel.
  • use any rsync compatible tool (eg rsync; duplicity; rdiff-backup; rbackup; etc...)
  • like tarsnap:
    • push-based, requiring you run cron and maintain scripts
    • no real Web UI; no email notifications of failures
  • cheaper and not prepaid; seems like a better option than Tarsnap

crashplan

http://www.crashplan.com/business/compare.html

  • very popular desktop app for cloud backups
  • Java based, so works on Linux, OSX, Windows
  • big java APP (requires 512MB RAM for service)
  • web management UI + monitoring, email notifications
  • Requires GUI management APP, but can run backup service in headless mode ("unsupported")
  • biz pricing: $10/month/server or $0.32/GB/month;

other services

  • Strongspace rsync backend with snapshots; $7.50/month for 60GB; free ExpandDrive license. Mac backup app.
  • Backblaze - $5/month mac/pc backup app; folder based (kind of like Dropbox)

command-line tools

rdiff-backup:

  • like rsync but with deduplication of data across backups
  • Duplicity is a wrapper on rdiff-backup with encryption support
  • support cleaning up old versions:
  • supports de-duplication; incremental backups; statistics; deleting old snapshots
  • rBackup is a wrapper on rdiff-backup with extra features (daily/weekly..)
  • bup - exciting git-like backup tool

BackupPC

http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/info.html

  • Like Proxmox or Freepbx - a hosted web UI and packages on top of backup scripts.
  • tons of features (daily/monthly, email notifications)
  • pull-based (connects to all the servers you specify via SSH)
  • supposed to work really well...
@jsddsfoh
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I found these two, but don't need a cloud solution. Backing up either site with family members instead.
zfs.rent
HDD Housing

@stevesbrain
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I found these two, but don't need a cloud solution. Backing up either site with family members instead. zfs.rent HDD Housing

I use zfs.rent currently and can confirm it is solid for the last year and a bit that I've been a customer.

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