this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2025
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So I'm not really a selfhoster per say - but I run 2 NAS at home and I am working my way toward it. I don't really need my stuff open to the internet so I just use it on my LAN.

However I do have a lot of data, and I'm constantly backing things up. My question is - I have the following setup:

  1. Computer hard drives
  2. These backup to my NAS
  3. I have a separate HDD in an enclosure I plug into the NAS directly and copy my data onto every few months to put in my safe.
  4. Some cloud storage for very important smaller stuff (pictures)

My main question is - what is the best way to copy off new data from my NAS (Synology) to my "cold storage" drive, without recopying everything every time? is there a way to detect the files that exist on both and only copy new ones? I've always had this question when doing backups and it seems to always be overly complex.

You guys are very knowledgeable so I'm sure someone has dealt with this!

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[–] melfie@lemy.lol 1 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

I currently use rclone to do encrypted backups to iDrive e2 currently, but I’m concerned about the concept of “syncing isn’t a backup”, since as others have already said here, you can sync corrupted files, accidental deletions, etc. without more than a single snapshot. I’m considering something like Backrest with e2 because I like the idea of something that is opinionated and that “just works” when it comes to backups.

Edit:

Fair point that it may stop being maintained, though that could also be the case with rclone; less likely though still possible with rsync.