Off-site network backup

**mssever** · January 23rd, 2009

I've decided I really need to get serious about backing up my data. Furthermore, since I'm going to be spending quite a lot of time traveling in the near future, I'm going to need off-site Internet-based storage, which I won't be able to host myself. My Google searches didn't turn up anything relevant (I was probably using the wrong terms).

At the minimum, a suitable service must:

Be inexpensive
Be reliable--preferably with some sort of cash guarantee against data loss
Work with Linux
Be schedulable--ideally from cron
Avoid sending login credentials in clear text

I'd prefer a service that also:

Preserves permissions
Works with rsync and/or other standard tools
Uses end-to-end encryption

Anybody know of such a service?

**mssever** · January 23rd, 2009

bump

**Nepherte** · January 23rd, 2009

Any hosting with ssh access would do.

**mssever** · January 24th, 2009

Originally Posted by Nepherte

Any hosting with ssh access would do.

Not necessarily. For example, a number of hosting plans make no data-preservation guarantees.

**Nepherte** · January 24th, 2009

In my opinion, data preservation guaranty is an illusion. If you have one copy on an external hard disk and another on a remote place besides the original, you're pretty safe.

**brucewagner** · March 11th, 2009

I too am looking for such a service... Any ideas, anyone?

**frrobert** · March 11th, 2009

I am currently using Amazon Simple storage. I use the s3cmd tool to transfer the files. It is a command line tool. It allows encryption of data with PGP if desired. Transfers can be done by http or https.

**beercz** · March 12th, 2009

I use this all the time: rsnapshot.org

Once configured, stick it in a cron job and enjoy.

I have the output redirected to a log file which is then copied to my machine using scp.

Been using it for about 4 years, never let me down.

**t0p** · March 12th, 2009

I'm afraid I don't have a link for this... but there's a project that enables one to use the storage space of a Gmail account as online storage for files. The user can even mount the space as a drive. There's a book about it, called Hacking Gmail by Ben Hammersley. Google should help you find the details, if you're interested.