Hello everyone, I am a long time lurker of this channel, and I finally decided to write my first post.
Two years ago I used my old desktop PC to run a home server using TrueNAS Scale. It is still running at the time of writing this.
It works so well in fact that I have grown more dependent on it over time. First it was just Jellyfin, then came all the Arr apps, Adguard, Syncthing, Immich, Forgejo, Wireguard…
What was supposed to be the “PC for backups” has turned into the angular stone of all my computers and devices.
The reason why I am posting today is because I am afraid of the day my server dies or I have to move out of my place (which might happen soon)
Does anyone know if it is possible to rent a cloud server where I could install TrueNAS and then have that be a “replica” of my local one to use in case of an emergency? Is this a bad idea? What is the ideam solution for this issue?
You are right to be afraid. I had a similar story, and am still recovering and sorting what data is recoverable. Nearly lost age 0.5-1.5 years of media of my daughters life this way.
As others have said, don’t replicate your existing backup. Do two backups. Preferably on different mediums, spinning disk/ssd eg.
If one backup is corrupted or something nasty is introduced, you will lose both. This is one of the times it is appropriate to do the work twice.
I’ve built two backup mini PCs, and I replicate to them pretty continuously. Otherwise, look at something like Borg base/alternatives.
Remember, 3-2-1 and restore testing. It’s not a backup unless you can restore it.