HACKER Q&A
📣 retube

Looking for an online / cloud backup solution


Hi HN,

I have sub 1TB of personal data (photos, code, personal docs etc) that I want to backup online. I am looking for a solution that:

- windows or linux client

- allows me to specify the folders to backup (both local and external drives)

- doesn't run automatically, is triggered manually by me

- ideally: deleted files are retained

- indefinite storage (as long as I continue to pay) no matter how infrequently I connect / backup

Basically something functionally equivalent to rsync.

I've looked at Onedrive, Backblaze and S3 and all have various issues.

Any recommendations? Thanks

  👤 mceachen Accepted Answer ✓
If you spin up a digital ocean droplet for $4/mo, then enable droplet backups for $1/mo, you'd be able to use rsync proper. Any hosting service would serve this task, but follow hardening guides and move ssh off of port 22.

It looks like rsync.net would be cheaper, though, and have the benefit of zfs scrubbing.

👤 ryan8020
I would suggest to take a look at owncloud (https://owncloud.com/). They have clients for every device, are largely open source and have quite a few configuration options.

You can set them up on a server on the hosting provider of your trust or even on your raspberry pi.

👤 troydavis
Rsync.net (http://www.rsync.net/) is used and very highly regarded by many HN readers: https://hn.algolia.com/?q=rsync.net

I don’t have firsthand experience with it.

👤 brudgers
If the goal is backup, why not:

  Backup to a hard drive
  Go to a bank
  Put the hard drive in a safe deposit box
  For redundancy use multiple drives and boxes and banks
👤 PearTechFiend
Couchdrop.io - you can even bring your own cloud storage or can use theirs. Can use SFTP, SCP, FTP, Rsync etc. worth a look at?