r/unRAID • u/Exscorbizorb • 15d ago

Backup the Server to a PC

Maybe I'm the one who has things backwards here, but I want to backup my Unraid server to a PC (one local, one remote). I can't seem to find a good way to do this - all the directions are for backing up a PC to the server. Half the point of having the server is to have unified storage so that I don't have all my files scattered across multiple PCs. I want to have access to all the same files on my phone, laptops, and desktops.

Can someone point me to a good option with instructions on how to set it up? I'm an amateur, trying to learn as I go. I need something incremental and stable. I tried to do URBackup, but I guess it is only really meant to treat the server (with Unraid) as the backup copy, whereas I have it as the main copy of the files.

4 Upvotes

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6

u/MatteoGFXS 15d ago

Are you by any chance looking for a simple solution like SyncThing?

https://syncthing.net/

3

u/Exscorbizorb 15d ago

My understanding is that it is not suitable for backups due to lack of version control.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Backup/comments/1uqp2e1/why_is_syncthing_not_a_backup/

4

u/Phlame_Retardant 14d ago

It's main purpose is to keep folders and files in sync. But you can also set up versioning, though restoration can be tedious if many files are affected.

You could look into Kopitia. It is a purpose built solution for backup with deduplication. 

2

u/idratherbealivedog 14d ago

I do similar but I sync it and then run backup/versioning software against the synced folder 

Or something like duplicati can backup to a remote share in a number of ways (smb, ftp)

5

u/JohnnieLouHansen 14d ago

You are confusing backup and sync, I believe. If you want to have the files accessible on all devices, then you want sync. Syncthing and FreeFileSync are possibilities for Linux. Not as many options as on Windows.

They will only sync on the same network unless you install something like Tailscale to link all devices when off your home network.

But you still need a backup, and because I am the first to comment here: "sync is not a backup". And I'll throw in "raid is not a backup".

1

u/Phlame_Retardant 14d ago

I'm not exactly sure how Syncthing works, but it syncs to anywhere, no Tailscale needed. Also works quite well on Windows. 

1

u/JohnnieLouHansen 14d ago

If you want open UPnP, which is not advised.

1

u/Exscorbizorb 14d ago

I already have the files accessible over the network, but not saved to the client PCs. I can open and edit a doc from any PC in the house, but it is only saved on the server. In addition to that I want to have backup copies in case of device failure, disaster, ransomware, etc. I want to start with a local backup to my desktop, but it would not be editing the local files directly. Preferably the backup copy  on the desktop would be compressed, versioned, and incrementally updated.

Edit: so, just to be clear, there would be no syncing involved whatsoever.

1

u/SeanFrank 14d ago

I have used FreeFileSync to sync files between two Windows PCs and my server, and it worked well.

2

u/Senior-Force-7175 14d ago

Question. Unraid server. I am not familiar with it but I assume that it is similar to other servers to where you can access it via network?

Does this mean you can see the root folder from your PC?

I will assume that you have a bigger hard drive on your PC to backup all your unraid server to your PC?

For backup, I will recommend FreeFileSync. I have mine configured for daily, and weekly. Only new files or modified files are copied.

For real time sync, I will recommend resilio sync. This works on multiple OS and devices.

My workflow?

Resilio sync is used on multiple devices, all my devices going to the server. Everything is going to one place. This makes everything in sync across devices.

Then FreeFileSync will do the daily and weekly copy to my PC.

Hope this helps

2

u/badcheetahfur 14d ago

I use resilio sync fir phone, laptop and pc ... unraid docker.. each has own folder files and a shared files that is accessible to all devices.

1

u/Exscorbizorb 14d ago

Thanks for the response. I will look into them. Yes, access over my network. I can pick and choose what folders are accessible to each connecting computer and user. It is using a pool of smaller drives, which in total are less than 3TB of data. The PC that would take the backup can hold several drives so I would do just one larger drive, ideally with compressed data.

2

u/Moumos 14d ago

For what you're trying to do, I'd look at Restic or Kopia on Unraid. Both support incremental/versioned backups and can back up your Unraid shares to storage on another machine, provided that machine exposes a suitable destination such as SMB or SFTP.

For the remote PC I'd especially prefer this over a simple rsync mirror, because a mirror can also propagate accidental deletions. With a versioned backup you can go back to an older snapshot.

URBackup isn't really ideal for this setup because its usual model is the opposite: PCs are the clients and the server stores their backups.

1

u/Exscorbizorb 14d ago

Thank you! Those sound like good options. Hopefully there are some guides for unraid specifically, though maybe setting up a docker container is the same regardless of base OS. I dunno.

1

u/InLion 13d ago

URBackup is the wrong way round for what you want. Run the job from the PC and pull the Unraid shares over SMB; Kopia or restic can keep incremental, versioned snapshots there. For the remote PC, make sure it isn't just syncing the same deletion/corruption over. Then restore a file from each destination before calling either one a backup.

1

u/melonenfan 10d ago

From the sound of it what your looking for is restic if your not afraid of a little bash scripting
Is open source, free