I'm looking to set up a long-term solution for storing large files. Currently, I have a server running Home Assistant in Proxmox and a Windows PC that I mainly use for gaming. My goal is to create a network disk with at least 10TB for backups. I'm considering buying two 16TB HDDs—one external for my Home Assistant server and the other for my Windows PC.
My plan involves adding a VM with NextCloud on my server and using part of the internal SSD for passthrough caching. For the Windows machine, I'd mount the second 16TB HDD and create a Linux VM that would autostart and connect to this disk. I want to use Syncthing on both devices to back up files from the media server whenever the PC is on. I heard that Syncthing has versioning, which would help me recover data in case I accidentally delete something on the main server. I'm trying to ensure that my setup has an offline backup to protect it from errors. What do you think? Will Syncthing cover my backup needs?
5 Answers
Overall, looks solid! Offline backup as a fail-safe is awesome. Just ensure Syncthing's versioning is set properly, and if you're after 24/7 redundancy, consider a NAS as well.
For your requirements, why not consider using iSCSI? It would allow you to create a disk on your Linux server and mount it on your Windows PC seamlessly. This can streamline things a lot!
Your plan sounds a bit complex—have you thought about simplifying it? A NAS with one 16TB drive for backups, then copying that to a second 16TB drive kept somewhere safe might be easier. You can save user files directly to the NAS instead of the OS drives, and you can even image your PCs and servers along with their VMs! It might not be flashy, but you can scale it up to over 200TB without much hassle.
Right?! I have a different approach using a simple PC to manage my backups and weekly cloud uploads, which works great for me.
Just a heads up, Syncthing isn't backup software. Have you thought about using a dedicated backup solution instead?
Your project sounds exciting, but keep in mind that it might not provide adequate protection from disasters like fire or floods at home. Have you checked out BackBlaze? It’s only $9 a month for cloud backup. You could pop that 16TB HDD into your PC, set it up with BackBlaze, and you’d have a set-it-and-forget-it solution that could free up your homelab efforts for other projects!
Totally agree! I use a similar idea with a smaller setup. I have my main Linux server and a script to back up from one drive to another, taking snapshots for protection. It’s pretty foolproof!