Backing up your PC is one of the most important tasks you should do weekly. Ensuring you have a copy of all your data safely stored for quick retrieval can save time, money, and headaches. Self-hosting your backups can provide quick access to all your stored data even if your connection to the outside world drops. You'll save money compared to cloud-based storage subscriptions, learn something new about networking and server management, and can use network-attached storage (NAS) or server to move from simple data storage to running services.
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5 Take full control of your data storage
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The primary reason people enjoy self-hosting ... well, anything they can is due to the power of direct control. Using cloud-based services means relying on a third party to keep everything online for you to access and govern security protocols in safeguarding your data. Should the host server infrastructure go down at a vital time, you'll temporarily lose access to your data, which isn't a pleasant experience. By self-hosting backups, you'll always have a copy available even if your internet goes down, thanks to the power of the local network.
And because you're on the LAN, data transfer speeds should fully saturate your available bandwidth. Internet connections, even fiber, aren't the most reliable for achieving maximum speeds, especially at peak times. If you have a lot of data to back up and manage, keeping everything on the LAN will likely result in shorter wait times.
4 Learn new things in the process
Setting up your own NAS or backup solution within the LAN can teach you new things about networking and infrastructure management. If you have multiple devices to connect to the ISP-provided router, you may require a network switch, which will allow you to better understand how everything interconnects. Throw in a custom router and you'll take full control of your entire LAN with fully self-hosted and homebrew solutions. You can go from zero to hero with plenty of guides here on XDA-Developers and YouTube.
3 Save money on subscriptions
Cloud storage saves money and while it can prove useful for keeping a backup off-site, you're still paying a monthly fee for the luxury. Things can become expensive if you have multiple systems to backup and a lot of data to transfer. With self-hosted solutions, you can manage capacity accordingly with the purchase of more drives, instead of bumping up the price of a monthly payment.
2 Access your backups during outages
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I've already touched on this, but it's worth stating this advantage alone. Having your backups available even during internet outages is invaluable. By bringing your backup storage to within your LAN, you'll always have access to the stored content. Even if your LAN should drop, you can always directly access the device it's stored on and make the transfer. And by following the 3-2-1 rule, we'd have two readily accessible backup locations at hand with one off-site, should anything happen at home.
1 Expand from backups to running services
Using a NAS to store backups can provide a door into self-hosting services. These are powerful enclosures that can run everything from home surveillance and automation to media streaming and cloud office platforms. This is where you can save even more money by canceling other cloud-based subscriptions. Your backup system doesn't have to be limited to storing recovery data. It can also be used to do other things to make better use of the available system resources.
Don't forget the 3-2-1 backup rule
Regardless of how you store backups, it's important to remember the 3-2-1 rule for maximum redundancy. We've published a few guides on implementing this rule into your backup strategy, but it consists of three backup copies stored on two different platforms and one off-site. This can be your PC and a NAS, as well as an external drive stored at a different location. Automated backups are great for removing the manual work of protecting your data. Things can get tricky, especially when working with multiple systems.
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