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haertig · 01-01-2025, 01:26 AM

You can also try to find a friend to pair up with. Put your remote backup system in their house and they put their backup system in yours. The "remote backup system" does not have to be high end. A Raspberry Pi with an external disk will do just fine. The entire setup fits into probably 8"x8"x4" of space.

I did this with my mom when she was still alive. My nightly backups ended up in her home and hers ended up in mine. She wasn't involved and didn't even realize I was doing this. I am the computer guy in the family. Unfortunately, once she passed I never set this system up again. I might try to find a friend wanting to pair up and set it up again.

One negative of this setup is what happens if you die (assuming you are the computer guru of the family)? Will the rest of the family (assumed to not be computer gurus) be able to figure things out and retrieve something from these remote backups? If not, it may be better to go with a commercial backup offering and just pay for it (and the computer support they will give your family after you're gone).

As I get older I'm realizing that all the cool stuff I am able to set up and administer might not work for the family after I'm gone. So the above setup may not be for everyone. I'm starting to think that while it was good for me in the past, it may not be good for me in the future.

If you do end up putting stuff on a commercial solution like DropBox, GoogleDrive, etc. - make sure you are well versed in security, encryption, and stuff like that. You don't want (at least I don't want) to have stuff on these 3rd party servers that those 3rd parties could decrypt. You want to control that aspect totally on your own IMHO. Those 3rd parties should never see even one byte of your data that is not well encrypted by you, outside of their control/influence. It does you no good if they state that your data is automatically encrypted - when THEY can decrypt it. Their encryption may help in some scenarios - other people couldn't decrypt it - but you're putting your trust into that 3rd party who could decrypt it if they had a mind to. I wouldn't trust them, or trust the government that may force them to decrypt it even if unwilling.

01-01-2025, 01:26 AM	#3
haertig Wizard Posts: 1,899 Karma: 31522252 Join Date: Sep 2017 Device: PW3, Fire HD8 Gen7, Moto G7, Sansa Clip v2, Ruizu X26	You can also try to find a friend to pair up with. Put your remote backup system in their house and they put their backup system in yours. The "remote backup system" does not have to be high end. A Raspberry Pi with an external disk will do just fine. The entire setup fits into probably 8"x8"x4" of space. I did this with my mom when she was still alive. My nightly backups ended up in her home and hers ended up in mine. She wasn't involved and didn't even realize I was doing this. I am the computer guy in the family. Unfortunately, once she passed I never set this system up again. I might try to find a friend wanting to pair up and set it up again. One negative of this setup is what happens if you die (assuming you are the computer guru of the family)? Will the rest of the family (assumed to not be computer gurus) be able to figure things out and retrieve something from these remote backups? If not, it may be better to go with a commercial backup offering and just pay for it (and the computer support they will give your family after you're gone). As I get older I'm realizing that all the cool stuff I am able to set up and administer might not work for the family after I'm gone. So the above setup may not be for everyone. I'm starting to think that while it was good for me in the past, it may not be good for me in the future. If you do end up putting stuff on a commercial solution like DropBox, GoogleDrive, etc. - make sure you are well versed in security, encryption, and stuff like that. You don't want (at least I don't want) to have stuff on these 3rd party servers that those 3rd parties could decrypt. You want to control that aspect totally on your own IMHO. Those 3rd parties should never see even one byte of your data that is not well encrypted by you, outside of their control/influence. It does you no good if they state that your data is automatically encrypted - when THEY can decrypt it. Their encryption may help in some scenarios - other people couldn't decrypt it - but you're putting your trust into that 3rd party who could decrypt it if they had a mind to. I wouldn't trust them, or trust the government that may force them to decrypt it even if unwilling.