Question Backup advice - additional hardware or reuse what I have?

[elsmandino]

Hi there.

I do not really have a proper backup system in place and am keen to try and remedy this as soon as possible - have just been reading about 3-2-1 system and got me thinking!

I have a Beelink Mini S12 Pro, which I use as my server for everything (TVheadeadend, Jellyfin, PiHole, Home Assistant etc) and the OS is Openmediavault.

As recommended by the Openmediavault forum, I run the OS from a separate USB stick.

I have two SSDs inside the server - a 512 NVME (which came with the PC) which I use solely for docker containers.

The other is a 1TB Crucial Sata SSD that I use for short term storage (like recordings that I am likely to watch and delete) and things that get regularly accessed like photos.

I then also have a 14TB WD essentials workbook external HDD that I use for long term storage - most of my music and video, that I want to keep is on there.

Most of what I have is not essential and does not need backing up - i.e. I have loads of recordings, that I have made over the years, that I probably will not get round to watching in any event.

Now to the backup issue - what should I do to back up everything?

As per the 3-2-1 principle, I firstly need a second hard drive.

Option 1 - I already have a spare 6TB WD Red that I could use - should I buy an external USB3.0 caddy for that and use that for backups? Bit inconvenient that it needs its own power.
Options 2 - I buy 2-Bay DAS and put both of my hard drives in that instead (can be expensive compared to a regular single hard drive enclosure)
Option 3 - Sell the 6TB WD Red and buy a 2.5" drive that can be powered directly from my server (downside being that I am limited to 5TB only).

Any advice, on what to do, would be much appreciated.

If possible, I want to avoid having another NAS just for backups, unless this is definitely the way to go - i.e. I have an Odroid HC2, that I am looking to sell, but will keep if if necessary.

 

[Lafong]

Clarify a couple of things.

You say:

"Most of what I have is not essential and does not need backing up"

and

"what should I do to back up everything?"

At face value, those 2 statements are contradictory. Can you elaborate?

I'd first try to answer a few things so we can get a better idea:

1; What is the total gigabyte count of whatever it is that you do in fact want to back up? About 500? About 2500? I mean the "original" files, not any so-called "backups".

2; On how many different physical drives does this "original" stuff reside? 2, 4, ?

3; is it ENTIRELY personal data, with NO Windows, NO operating systems, no installed applications?

If it all is just personal data, I'd guess you could use a standard "file by file" backup program....as opposed to an imaging program. Your backups would simply be exact replicas of your originals, with the original folder structure. You could run it on demand...every 20 minutes or every 20 months; your choice.

You might consider:

1; Try to categorize stuff by importance. Maybe have 3 total backups of highly critical stuff; 2 of important stuff; 1 of anything of marginal importance. Doing so might help with capacity requirements. But maybe it is all "highly critical". That's fine; your choice.

2; backing up "everything" quite often; maybe twice a day. Backup less important stuff less often....weekly or monthly.

Most backup programs allow you to include or exclude folder by folder, or even file by file if need be. You might have less luck trying to include or exclude by file type (extension).

There are ways to do this via the command line but those methods are very powerful and a bit cryptic, so can lead to disaster if you don't know exactly what you are doing.