Is there a way to do a local-type backup storing the files directly on a remote computer (such as my PC) instead of a local folder?
I’m asking because I currently regularly download backup files from /home/user-data/backup, but storing files in that directory effectively halves the space I can use on my VPS, which is pretty expensive (about €0.25/GB/mo)
On the other hand, alternatives like S3 presumably also cost money, and I don’t feel very good about Amazon and such having access to my backup data, even if it’s encrypted (they may infer some metainformation from backup file sizes).
I think the “rsync” option should work well for your circumstances. Are you familiar with rsync?
It can basically “copy” everything in a directory you specify, and using SSH you pull the files down to where you’d like. It’s basically like a linux “sync” tool between two remote hosts.
You can probably find something in the forum here by just searching “rsync” for a basic guide specific to MIAB. There are probably a few quirks you could need to work out, this thread might be helpful as this user had a slight hiccup: [Solved] Enabling rsync backup for the first time in mailinabox
Thanks, I didn’t notice this before in the backup drop-down menu Tho hmm it seems it would be connecting to my home computer via rsync/ssh? Not sure how workable that is since my computer is on a typical home connection, behind a NAT and a router with a dynamic IP. (I’m also a little wary of giving the box ssh access to my home computer, I’d prefer to do it the other way around.)
Depending on whether there are substantial file types that don’t compress well (e.g., pdf. jpg, etc.), the maildir files may have a fairly high compression ratio. This means that it won’t “halve” your server storage, but initially may appear to do so because there are a bunch of non-maildir files included in the backup files.
I rsync into MiaB remotely to back up the files, and there are various ways to accomplish this, but this method does not reduce the storage requirements on the server because the files are not removed.
I don’t know about using the rsync option in the MiaB interface, but based on what others have mentioned, the S3 and B2 options only leave the files yet to be sync’d on the server and then delete them after a successful sync, reducing the server storage requirements (although I’m not sure what happens when the monthly archive is created).
Tho hmm it seems it would be connecting to my home computer via rsync/ssh? Not sure how workable that is since my computer is on a typical home connection, behind a NAT and a router with a dynamic IP. (I’m also a little wary of giving the box ssh access to my home computer, I’d prefer to do it the other way around.)