Viable Cloud Backup Solutions for Plex in 2021 (and 2022)

General Discussions
1

I have invested a lot of time building the media for my Plex server, let alone custom posters I made personally, metadata, custom collections, etc…

I host it on a NAS (WD My Cloud PR4100) 16 TB with raid, so available 8TB data storage. I currently have 7TB used for my Plex.

There are several online storage options out there today… cloud storage, VPS (Virtual Private Servers), RSS (Remote Storage System), etc… and I have searched the forums here but all discussions I have found here about current Online / VPN / RSS / Cloud Backup options are either unanswered or obsolete now in 2021 (soon to be 2022 with more changes to current options coming that will restrict options even further).

For example here were some good options in the past (with many of them offered as solutions in past threads in this forum) but now in 2020 (or 2021) have changed to the point they are not viable due to their policy or storage plan changes or price increases…

  • Goole Gsuite – I currently have been using Google GSuite with unlimited data, But they have officially announced within the last month or so that they are ending Gsuite unlimited storage for $12 a month and replacing it with multi-tiered new plans under the new renamed “Workspace” branding and that all Gsuite customers are going to be forced into (Link HERE). The problem is that to retain the unlimited data it will now cost $30 a month ($360 a year) . All other plans have caps like 2TB or 5TB. This is why I am trying to find another option as soon as possible.

  • CrashPlan – CrashPlan, even though it has had it’s challenges, it was a historical popular cloud storage option because it offers unlimited storage for only $10 a month (link HERE). The challenge with them is that within the last year they started blocking Plex Server in their backups (./Plex Media Server/.). You can see the full list of all the directories they are now blocking from backing up in the link HERE.
    This has been brought up in threads in the past and Plex said they were going to reach out to CrashPlan to see if they can work with them to limit their restrictions with backing up Plex servers, but Plex never followed up. (CrashPlan Small Business BLOCKS Plex backups! - #7 by Ridley)

  • Amazon – As shared in this thread, Amazon used to also offer unlimited storage, but has since stopped offering that. Now, as far as I can tell, it would be very expensive to use. (Backup all movies to amazon cloud)

  • iDrive – Is a good highly rated option (and I have used them in the past). They have historically only offered a max of 5TB, so when I saw they are currently offering a 10TB option for $8.33 a month or $100 yearly after the promotional first year (link HERE) I was ready to jump on the offer…until I read the small very fine print at the bottom that said “the normal storage of 5TB Personal Plan is set at 10TB for a limited time.” I have emailed iDrive asking if I sign up and upload 8TB now will I be forced to delete 3TB from my backup in the future if it is reduced it back down to only a 5TB plan again? I will post their reply when I get it.

  • OneDrive / DropBox / Box / Sync / etc… – They may vary slightly but they are all basically the same pricing…as many of these have veered away from personal plan options and focused on business options. They say unlimited storage for only $15 a month. Sounds great until you read the fine print that says minimum of 3 users (so now it jumps to $45 a month / $450 a year). Or they say you have 10TB or 15TB which sounds great until you read the fine print and it says again minimum of 2-3 users with a storage cap of 2TB to 5TB per user.

There are several more examples of opportunities for more than 10 TB cloud storage options in the past that are no longer viable or have doubled / tripled in price making them unattractive now. This is a strange turn of events when looking at the history of technologies advances… they are usually limited and expensive when they start but become cheaper with wider options as they mature. It is just the opposite with online storage. It was cheaper with more options in the past and more expensive with less options and more restrictions as the years roll on.

So after all that…here is the question…

What options are available now in 2020 and the upcoming year of 2021 that meet the following criteria that historically has not been a problem when looking for online storage that meet these basic criteria:

  1. Is AFFORDABLE (like $8 to $15 a month or $80 to $100 a year)
  2. Have at least 10TB to Unlimited storage that
  3. Does NOT restrict backing up a Plex server
  4. Does NOT require a minimum number of users
  5. Does NOT restrict each user to only 1TB to 5TB storage in spite of the plan offering 15TB or more for the plan
4 Likes
2

I don’t know if there is a Plex restriction, but backblaze is an option I’ve been looking at. It costs $60/year for unlimited storage of a single computer, which supposedly includes external USB disks. So, I assume you can just back up the whole machine (including plex library) to their server.

3

Kwodz, thanks for reminding me!

I actually forgot to put that in my OP. Backblaze does offer a usb drive backup option but charges for a NAS or networked drive. I have reached out to them to see how much more if there they would allow a NAS or network drive to be backed up with a personal account.

They officially have a business account to backup a NAS drive…which they require you to reach out to them for pricing…which is never a good sign. (link HERE)

When I get an answer from them I will post it here.

EDIT…
Just found the pricing for a NAS / Network Server to be backed up. It is $5/Month/Terabyte. So if I have 8 TB that is an extra $40 a month or $480 a year plus the $60 a year for a basic plan would be $540 a year!!!. I will confirm here once I get confirmation from them.

4

Keep a local backup to a USB drive, connected to the PC being backed up to Backblaze. Include that in your backup to Backblaze.

5

Boy I just found a Backblaze calculator when reading on their site for backing up a network drive (link HERE). This cannot be right…

Backblaze_Calculator
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6

Philip, thanks for the suggestion! I guess that is a solution. I buy a USB $150 external 8TB harddrive on Amazon, have it back up my 8TB NAS server and use Backblaze to backup the USB external harddrive.

It is another $150 upfront. The only glass half full view is it adds another layer of redundancy.

This could be a backup plan (no pun intended)…but ideally there is a more direct streamlined solution SOMEWHERE (or so you would think)???

7

So I heard back from Backblaze…and yes they are quite expensive unless you have your Plex server on the your same computer (or USB connected harddrive). If your Plex server is on a NAS or other networked computer/harddrive, then is will cost $46 a month or $578 a year for 8TB storage.

PLUS…if I needed to restore my Plex server it will cost me ANOTHER $80 to download again to my NAS.

Backblaze pricing link HERE.

So unless I take Philip’s suggestion above and invest in a USB 8TB harddrive to backup my NAS so Backblaze can back that up, they are too expensive.

Blaze Cost
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8

I also heard back from Sync. Their 10TB plan is a business only plan. Officially their 10TB also requires a minimum of 2 paid users. BUT they do have a 1 user option when requested. But they are still $312 a year, triple historical high price range for this amount of storage.

Still looking for the best viable option…

Sync Cost

9

So, I guess, like you said, best bet is an HDD backup that you then backup haha. At least you’ll be following the 3-2-1 back up rule. 3 copies, 2 different media (kind of), 1 off-site!

Sorry backblaze wasn’t a better option. I never looked into the NAS offerings because don’t run on NAS!

Thanks for digging into this for future reference though! I’m sure it will be useful to others in the future!

10

I got a response back from iDrive. As I mentioned above I have used iDrive in the past and was very happy with them. I had to leave when my I needed more than than the top tier of 5TB that they offered at the time.

Here is my question to them and their answer…
iDrive Cost

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So it looks like I have confirmed two possible solutions for backing up my Plex server that is hosted on a networked NAS… but that may vary per user as iDrive may not be a viable option depending if someone else needs more than 10 GB storage. But if you do, I would recommend reaching out and asking iDrive what they might offer you if you need more than 10 GB…and then let us know here what they offered you.

  1. Backblaze – But since my Plex is on a NAS I would need to buy a 8-10 GB USB drive to backup my NAS in order to keep it to around $8 a month ($80 a year) for unlimited storage and this price includes the $2 a month add on price for 1 year history file restore. I don’t mind buying the extra HD, as that is a good thing to have anyways as an extra backup. I have never used Backblaze, but reviews online say it does what it does with no real bells and whistles. The pro with them is they are still currently Unlimited for the personal plan. The cons do make me hesitate a little with them due to some challenges I have read online with their infrastructure / limited customizability / limited advanced security options / can only backup 1 computer & USB connected drive / does not support NAS or networked drives.

  2. iDrive – Now I know they offer a real 10TB option, which suites my needs at least for the next year or so, I am strongly leaning towards them. They are $99 a year (after 1st year promotional price) which averages out to $8.25 a month (link HERE), close enough to Backblaze aggressive pricing. The strong Pros for iDrive is advanced security (i.e. I can control the encryption key so iDrive couldn’t read my backups even if they wanted to), supports NAS / networked drives / unlimited computers, computer and NAS drive imaging, and offers forever history as a standard (i.e. if I delete a file on my computer it is not deleted in the backup online). The only con is limited to 10TB which is not a problem for me (at least for the next year or two).

So…unless someone shares a solution they are currently using and finds working for them… I believe I will go with iDrive (after waiting to see if they have a Black Friday sale first in 2 weeks).

Here is my Plex backup plan at the moment…

  1. I currently have a NAS which is a Raid 10 with 4 hard drives so it has hard drive redundancy
  2. Subscribe to iDrive 10TB plan for online backup
  3. I do think I will also get a USB 10TB hard drive on Black Friday too (even though it is not required to use with iDrive) as local physical backup.
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Thanks for posting this. I keep looking too. Between lack of affordable online storage and data caps, I just keep buying hdd’s. It seems like cloud services would rather get our hdd money.

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So, is there anyone else who has found an affordable 10TB to unlimited online backup storage for their Plex server?

Before I make the commitment to iDrive again, I don’t know what I don’t know…

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For anyone who goes with the iDrive option, here are a few very helpful points you should understand in order to maximize the security options iDrive offers.

iDrive is based in the US (as many online storage companies are), so it is subject to complying with any US government agency when requested…meaning they can give access to your backed up data. This is standard with any US based company as it is the law (just like any other company based in another county is subject to the laws of that country when it comes to accessing your online stored data), so it is not a slam on iDrive at all, but is important for you understand.

I use my Plex not only for our collection of Movies and TV series we own on DVD/BluRays but I also use it store all of our family pictures and digital home movies/videos. Plus I when I back things up, I also back up all my personal information like tax returns, important documents, etc… So I prefer to keep our backups as secure and private as possible.

Their security options is where iDrive has always been an attractive option for me. When you set up your iDrive it is encrypted. But iDrives gives you a choice of WHO holds the key to the encryption…either iDrive or YOU.

:bangbang: If you chose that iDrive holds the encryption key they can access all your data if they were ever pressed to do so by any authorized US gov agency or I guess even by some rogue employee who just wanted to snoop around, because they have the key to decrypt your data. This, believe it or not, is the standard and many times the ONLY option with many other online storage companies.

:white_check_mark: But if you chose that YOU (client) hold the key then iDrive can never access your backup data…even if the US gov demanded that they do it or a rogue employee just wanted to explore. So since YOU create and hold the key, your data is encrypted BEFORE it is sent to iDrive and is only decrypted AFTER iDrive sends your data back to you. This is call client side or client end to end encryption (you being the client). iDrive never knows what the encryption key is.

BUT…there are two things you MUST never do if YOU hold the encryption key

  1. Never forget what your encryption key is (the encryption key is basically a really lllllloooonnnggg password). If you loose or forget your encryption key, you will never be able to access your backups. Use a password manager or something to help keep it safe but is available for you to look up when you need it.

  2. Only access your data via the iDrive software app…NEVER access your data via a browser. When you use the iDrive software the encryption/decryption only takes place on your end. When you use a Browser it has to share your encryption key with the iDrive servers, which then gives them your personalized encryption key.

:warning: One last note… you have to make the decision to have iDrive control your encryption key or that YOU control the encryption key when you first set up your account. If you change your mind later about who owns the encryption key then all your data will have to deleted in order to convert to your new encryption option. So…If you decide to have iDrive control it and then realize how much more secure it would be if you owned the encryption key and change it to you controlling the encryption key they have to delete all of your backups and you have to start over backing everything up because everything has to be re-encrypted with your new key you created and now control. SO choose wisely when you first set up your iDrive account.

Again, the ability to have client end to end encryption is a HUGE bonus with iDrive that majority of the other online storage companies (including Backblaze) either don’t offer at all or only include in their expensive business plans only.

15

I didn’t dive as deep into it as it seems you did with iDrive, but Backblaze does seem to offer a similar encryption model. Caveat is that to restore data it seems decryption is done on their end, with decrypted files sent securely back to you using SSL (or the like). That means you would have to send them your password for the private key, which they say is never stored, but, you never know.

16

Unless money is of no concern (like $80 a month or $400 or more a year), every services has its caveats where security is concerned. Some are massive level concerns while some are just good to be aware of things. It is just a matter which one is the less of an con for you.

  1. Backblaze – You are right… Backblaze offers (a little wonky) client to client encryption. As you said though you need to share your private key with Backblaze whenever you need to restore anything, which in my point of view negates having a private key for two reasons, first as you pointed out we have to trust Backblaze that they will delete your private key after it is used and second is that since you have to send your private key over the internet it does make it possible for a middle man attack where a hacker could intercept your private key as you send it to Backblaze giving the hacker total access to everything you have in our Backblaze storage. Since I will often times need like a single file semi frequently from my storage, this opens up multiple opportunities of concerns on a semi regular basis for me. I believe their Business B2 plan offers real end to end encryption (though I have seen some question that) but then I would be paying over $350 a year.

  2. iDrive – I am not saying iDrive is perfect either. It has a few caveats too. It is real end to end client private key encryption (as long as you don’t use a browser to access your data). But using a private key encrypts the contents of files, but does not conceal file names or directory structure, though the actual file is fully encrypted and not accessible due to your private encryption key. I don’t like this fact, but I feel it is a lesser evil than having to send my private key to the company.

One other point is that with iDrive there is No file sharing if you use a Private Encryption Key. Since i use as a security backup rather than shared online storage this is not an issue. If i need to share a file I have a billion other options that offer free 5GB online storage.

1 Like
17

If anyone is looking for a good large hard drive to use a physical backup or a way to copy your NAS to a USB drive to use with Backblaze…Black Friday sale has a $309 14TB WD External drive for only $180. I bought one within 3 minutes they went on sale.

18

I have been looking at either a single possible solution with NordLocker (https://nordlocker.com/) depending on a quote.

But I suspect that I might still be looking at my iDrive solution I listed above, but combine with NordLocker to overcome iDrive’s con where even though it encrypts the files it does not encrypt the folder structure or file names. I am hoping then that NordLocker will resolve this concern as it would encrypt my data locally before being backed up to iDrive.

I will let you know what I am able to work out with NordLocker as possibly part of the solution.

19

I have to give MAJOR kudos for NordLocker customer support! They have been excellent with timely responses with good answers (not boiler plate responses) that shows they read my questions and obviously took quality time trying to find the best solution for me.

She even went to bat for me to try to get a 10TB online storage deal, though that was rejected and say they currently only offer 500GB or 2TB online storage.

BUT…here is the HUGE benefit with NordLocker, they offer UNLIMITED local encryption for Free (link here). You can pay if you want 500GB or 2TB of online storage. I would LOVE to see them offer a 10TB to Unlimited online storage option at some point in the future.

So Nordlocker will probably be part of whatever online storage solution I ever use from now on. Since many online storage options offer less than ideal security solutions, I am planning on using NordLocker for local encryption then use iDrive to backup my Nordlocker encrypted data. iDrive does offer end to end client side encryption, but even though the files are encrypted and not accessible by iDrive, they do not encrypt the file names or the fold structure. This is where I believe (hope) Nordlocker can come into play.

I would imagine this might also help with other online storage services that restrict what you can back up or have less than ideal security options as mentioned above in this thread. If you backup to a specific folder on your laptop or USB drive, use NordLocker to encrypt that folder, then backup that encrypted folder to the online storage service of your choice, you resolve several concerns, obstacles, security holes, and limitations. For example, BackBlaze offers a pseudo end to end encryption. With using NordLocker to encrypt your data before sending it to BackBlaze, it doesn’t matter if they have your personal (client side) BackBlaze encryption key because all they will see is unreadable data that is already encrypted by NordLocker.

Again all of this is in theory at the moment… Over the holiday break I will test it and then if all goes as anticipated.

20

Hi @Hobbes_Is_Real, i am trying to do the same that you but with a little diference that i do not have a NAS. I have 3 HD with 7TB of media. I want to create a Plex with some cloud partner like IDrive because i see is the best since Google put some limits on the team drive accounts. Do you see possible create this plex media with idrive cloud without a NAS??
thanks!