looking at getting a NAS as a backup own cloud

rellhom

I'm new to the idea of setting up a NAS, but want to set one up and leave on at my home network to use as kind of my own secure icloud idea, to back up my device of all profiles and my photos, etc.

Anyone here do this with their GOS phone? Any suggestions? I kind of want it to be fairly automated similar to how apple does it but also to have it completely encrypted (and perhaps connected by VPN when it does the backup).

Is it worth spending more for the higher end brands, or are the lower budget NAS good enough for this application.

lcalamar

rellhom Not sure if you I fully understand your request. However, I have my own Nextcloud server - and am quite happy with it. Doesn't require much of a server footprint (I'm using a router-sized computer) - and using both a USB and internal SSD drive for storage... In fact I run Plex on the same server with no issues...

troika

If it is only for backing up data, it is not recommended to use NAS because the risk is too high. Western Digital NAS was once breached and all data was lost. I personally bought two 18TB hard drives and put them in the chassis. When I need to backup, I plug in the hard drive power cord, turn off the computer after backup, and then unplug the power cord. Low cost, stable, and can also prevent ransomware.

troika

troika My two 18TB hard drives have the same data, equivalent to RAID 1 mode.

Sabotagetrick17

If you are just want to backing up your data, a NAS can do it well but can get quite expensive.

I would recommend renting a Storage Box from Hetzner and just copy your important data to that box. In order to copy to the box here are some software recommendations:

Windows: duplicaty https://duplicati.com/
Linux: Borg Backup https://www.borgbackup.org/

If it comes to your Android / GOS: I would backup locally to my tower or laptop and from there to the Hetzer Box. Yust free a folder over your local net and use SyncThing or FolderSyncPro on Android to sync to your network folder.

That would give you some redundancy.

lcalamar

Sabotagetrick17 Keep in mind the biggest data loss comes from a failing drive. A typical NAS has a raid configuration which provides a many 'x' improvement in data recovery.

Doesn't mean a raid configuration has to be a NAS - just a raid setup should be fine... but a single drive is a huge single point of failure risk.

If you must have data backup - you should do a minimal of RAID 1, which requires 2 drives with the capacity of 1 (mirrored)... I like RAID 5 but you'll need 3 drives to get the capacity of 2 drives... but RAID 5 is great for speed and availability with a fairly low data storage downside (e.g.: 3x 1Tb drives = 2Tb storage in a RAID 5)

Also - a cheap RAID chassis/card with 3 drives is pretty inexpensive... if you go RAID - then HDD is a lot more cost effective than SDD...

IN either case - I use NextCloud for managing my storage - isn't a 'NAS' box this way but a NextCloud server with disk storage...

Eirikr70

I have set up my cloud that way. Don't by a NAS if you are comfy with computers ... Too expensive. Just acquire a single board computer and you're good to go. For the photos I recommend you to try Immich.

rellhom

lcalamar

when you use NextCloud, are your files automatically encrypted before they leave your device and then unencrypted only when restored back on your device? Can you access your files from other devices and decrypt as needed? How smooth is the process?

I like the Network attached part of NAS versus just a raid set up that isn't available to me when not at my home computer. I need the encryption completely secure though so safety from hackers is not a problem.

Probably9857

rellhom

NextCloud is not E2EE by default. There is a plugin for it, but it is said to not work very well. I've never come across anyone with anything good to say about it.

If E2EE is a must-have, NextCloud may not be for you. Although if you are self-hosting, and/or using apps that already encrypt the data, then maybe...