[knckl]

I should start with the fact that a) I am paranoid about data. b) I don't trust any of the public cloud providers. Not in the sense to keep all my data with any of them and not having a backup copy elsewhere.

At the center of my set up is a Synology NAS (2x 8TB RAID 1). I use it as a personal "google drive" via the Synology Drive app.

The Synology Drive app is installed on my phone (as well as on my wife's) and is automagically and continuously backing up all of our photos and videos to the NAS.

I use Office 365 for email. The NAS is backing up everything from O365 nightly.

We have all of our important docs scanned and stored in the NAS. All my self-hosted apps (Gitea, Bitwarden, Jenkins, etc) are backing up nightly to the NAS.

All data from the NAS is then backed up to three locations:

1. Wasabi (S3-like storage) 2. Hetzner Storage Box (via rsync) 3. Once a year back up to an external HDD

The data is client-side encrypted before it leaves the NAS to any of the backup targets.

The NAS acts as a DHCP and DNS server at home, which is not related to backups, but still super cool to have everything in one box.

[knckl]

I forgot to say that I also pay for 2TB iCloud storage so I don't have to remove any of my photos from iCloud. I do actually enjoy iCloud, but I don't trust them as sole owners of my data.

[bbyford]

Crikey! Nice setup. Feel like I'm more aligned with you on this one where I don't want to put my data in the hands of someone who can both use it and lose it... I've got my NAS in the office but might look into a setup for the whole family

[deafpolygon]

How much does all that cost you?

[knckl]

There is an upfront cost for the NAS and the hard disks which will vary depending on where you live.

NAS (Synology DS723+) - £450 1x 8TB Iron Wolf - £161 (£322 for RAID 1)

Wasabi Sys charges me $6.99 per TB (I pay around $8 for my critical data only) Hetzner Storage Box is ~£11 per 5 TB (I backup my critical + non critical data here)

So after the initial cost of the NAS and the drives, I spend £18 a month for backup storage.

I am not including the electricity cost because the NAS is pretty efficient. (21 watts during data access)

[deafpolygon]

Assume a 5-year lifespan (probably longer) with no issues.. (450+322)/(12*5) that's a grand total of 30 pounds a month for storage. Considering the average consumer doesn't use more than 1TB, it's still cheaper at 10 / month and requires zero technical knowledge or skill.

[knckl]

I forgot to include the external hard drive that I back up to once a year.

It was around £150 for an 8TB drive.