I backed up every device in my house to one Kopia server, and deduplication saved more space than I expected
A tiny $45 thin client became a low power Kopia hub running Docker and encrypted backups for every household device.
In a time when cloud storage services have become pricier, the author opted for a private and local backup strategy. They experimented with various self-hosted backup tools but ultimately found Kopia to be the most suitable solution. With Kopia, all the crucial folders from the author's devices were backed up to a single server, thanks to its deduplication feature which significantly reduced storage space.
The author used an HP t620 thin client, boasting 8GB DDR3 memory and a 128GB M.2 SATA SSD, which proved to be more than sufficient for running the Kopia server in Docker. A DietPi x86 edition was employed to simplify the Docker setup and reduce memory usage to just 400MB. The server's encryption and TLS security were enhanced using OpenSSL, and the Kopia server was made accessible via HTTPS.
The author subsequently configured their Windows PC and Raspberry Pi to use the Kopia server for backups, specifying snapshot frequencies and retention periods. Kopia's deduplication feature proved invaluable, as it only saved changed files, minimizing storage usage. Should either the Windows PC or Raspberry Pi fail, the Kopia server facilitated their restoration. For heightened security, an additional backup of the Kopia server was stored on a USB SSD or HDD.
Written by urgent.news from XDA Developers's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
