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

[Hobbes_Is_Real]

Just a follow up to the directions above for using SSH to backup your Plex server –

Please remember… The video is for a WD PR4100 NAS with OS 3. If you have a different platform I am sure there are other easy to follow instructions if you look around.

SSH is a wicked powerful tool that can brick your server. So when using SSH, do not experiment or just try something on a whim. And as all say, the disclaimer is you use SSH at your own risk. But with that standard warning said… the video above is straight to the point and is VERY easy to follow.

When backing up the server databases / metadata / etc… I wanted to give you an frame of reference of the time and storage needed to back the actual server files (not the media).

I have over 2K movies / a TB of pictures and family movies / 100% personalized posters for at least 65 custom collections / some playlists / and I have a collection of old time radio shows so I use them instead of music library since we have Spotify for that.

My PR4100 is hard wired through the GHZ network with Cat 8 cables. Using WinSCP (as shown in the video above) as my SSH client, I found my Plex_Conf folder to be 100 GB in size and is project to take up to 4 hrs to backup from the NAS to my laptop (but I think it will finish faster than that)

But the point was it was as easy and drag and drop, like you would with any Windows folder.

[FortMedia]

Has anyone used Backblaze with Stablebit? Do they work well together?

Also, will Backblaze use the entirety of my 1gbps upload speed? or close to?

Thanks ahead of time.

[Swiss-Pete]

Interesting topic, I have used BB for my computer and a few external HDs for a while now but I have nothing for my two NAS, like many of you, I don’t have the budget for such a big space. I do have an external HD for backing one of the NAS and did not think I could plug it into my computer to have it stored into BB. I shall try that.
Meanwhile I also was looking for a cheap online solution and wondering why prices were lower before than now. I guess it’s because these companies tried to do like Dropbox in the beginning. Just like many marketer are advising when you have some cash : just try to get as many customers as possible for free in the beginning, hook them up then start to make them pay. I think the prices WILL go down eventually but not yet, the market is not stable enough in this industry. So I will wait and until then use the good old external HD to back my things up.

[sjsoukup]

I have used Backblaze for several years now.
I use it to backup all my external HDDs (unlimited #) and my laptop PC data. All my FLAC music files that are stored on my Plex NAS server are on an external HDD so I wont lose them and then I back up the external HDD to BB every 30 dats or les. As I add more FLACs to my Plex I also add them to the external HDD.
Sorry havent used Stableit.

[DigitalKloc]

I was backing up my PMS on a Synology DS920+ to Backblaze B2 but it was over $25/month for about 5.5 TB which was too much. After doing some quick math, I bought a Synology DS220j and a 10 TB HDD and used the Synology HyperBackup app for backing up one NAS to another. After the initial backup, I moved the backup NAS to my parents house and use it as a remote backup. It should pay for itself in under 18 months. I have been quite happy with the setup. No size limitations to deal with and I’ll save money in the long run.

[Hobbes_Is_Real]

So right now ended up with Google Workspace Enterprise with unlimited storage for $20 a month… but always trying to find a better priced alternative.

If iDrive has a Black Friday sale for the 10 GB might consider it (with of course encrypting my data BEFORE uploading it iDrive due to them not encrypting the name and metadata in spite of strongly encrypting the files themselves).

If anyone hears of a good Black Friday sale for online storage… let us know.

[Hobbes_Is_Real]

Just an FYI Best Buy has a 14 TB WD external hard drive on sale for Black Friday. I bought this same drive last year for just about the same price ($199, normally around $400) and I am getting a second one this year.

Great to have a local backup of your Plex server along with your cloud backup…

WD easystore 14TB External USB 3.0 Hard Drive Black WDBAMA0140HBK-NESN - Best...

[moviegeek80]

This is a great wealth of info. However, one thing I have asked myself is will prying eyes at these cloud backup companies, be able to actively scan and see what it is I’m storing. I know many people who use Plex for downloaded movies, sometimes or many times illegal. Whatever the case may be, wouldn’t you be the least bit concerned over who sees it? There are Reddit articles that exists where users have had there cloud backup blocked because of illegal content. Now, not to highjack your thread, but does anyone have a nugget to add on this topic?

[Hobbes_Is_Real]

@moviegeek80 , For me privacy is a HUGE consideration… and cannot be assumed that they do actually do offer the encryption and privacy you might expect. It does require a little research into the specific host you are considering.

I have done a bit of research on this very topic in this (long) thread. Here are some of the posts I made on this very IMPORTANT topic…

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

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 co…

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

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. 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 v…

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

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 encry…

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

Here is my Q&A with NordLocker about how I plan on using them to encrypt before backing up to my own iDrive or BackBlaze accounts. They confirm it will work. Once I encrypt a local folder with Nordlocker, upload to cloud, delete the local encrypted folder, restore the backed up encrypted folder, and can access again locally with Nordlocker… I will post my results after I try it. [nordlocker QA]

[drtenant1]

so i use seedboxes.cc depending on what you get mine runs about 30 a month with google workspace at another 30 for unlimited and a yearly domain of 12 dollars a year my avg bill is about 60 dollars a month for unlimited data with 1gb speeds on downloads through the seedbox and i currently have 70tb of data in workspace that encrypted via rclone i can even access the content on my pc with no issues

[Hobbes_Is_Real]

This thread has a ton of great information shared across the board. Because of the wealth of information I was asked if I could summarize what I found to be the best solution with links all in one post. So below is a summary, but greater (and some important details) are all included in previous posts in this thread above.

After having one data disaster already this year, I can confirm this solution works and is worth 10x the cost when needed. As my original post indicated I was looking for a balance of

1. affordable storage 10 TB to Unlimited
2. reliable when needed
3. top notch security.

STORAGE
I took the approach to the 3-2-1 rule, which means simply you should have 3 copies of your data on 2 different media (i.e. separate hard drives) with 1 copy off-site (cloud) for disaster recovery.

So my original Plex server and media are on a 4 Disk Raid 10 (which offers redundancy by duplicating the disks in the raid). Then on each Black Friday (or other sales) I buy a 14 TB USB external hard drive to copy data on my Plex server to. This gives me a local backup incase my Plex server ever gets corrupted. I encrypt my backup for security. Then I backup my USB hard drive that has my encrypted Plex backup to the cloud. This might sound complicated but it is really quite easy. I will share how to do it along with links below.

Original Server
If you are reading this, you probably already set up your Plex server, ( does not matter if it is on a Windows desktop, single large external disk, or a RAID server). This is your starting point and is where all your valuable Plex database, custom tags, media are (movies / songs / audiobooks / pictures).

Local Backup
Buy a USB external hard drive (I prefer WD EasyStore external drives as they are fast and reliable and great value for a 14 TB external drive for around $150 when on sale). Link HERE . Just make sure to buy a drive that is bigger than your Plex Server is (or will be)… or slowly buy multiple drives if needed.

• Then just copy all of your Plex media (movies / music / pictures) to your external harddrive.
• You will also want to make a backup of your Plex databases. This contains all of your custom tags, what movies are in what collections, etc… If you don’t have this, you make still have all of your movies and music but you will have start 100% over from scratch setting it all up and organizing everything again.

Here are easy instructions on how to backup your Plex databases on LINK HERE and HERE

Encryption
This is the part that is vital for two reasons…

1. Protects your data if anyone gets a hold of your external hard drive.

2. No matter what cloud service you choose there are always security caveats, pros vs cons, restrictions, etc… By encrypting your data BEFORE uploading it to your cloud service, even if they get hacked and steal all of your data no one will be able to do anything with that. It offers peace of mind and protecting yourself. Here is a post above that shares discussions on the importance of encryption LINK HERE.

You can use NordLocker ( LINK HERE) to secure my data. Mainly because it works, easy to use, and it is 100% with no limit the number of files or total data you want to encrypt locally on your own external hard drive you saved your backup to. Plus you get 3 GB of secure cloud storage for free (not enough for a Plex server, but still nice to have).

NordLocker is really easy to use. Just install the Windows app and then basically drag and drop files you want encrypt into the NordLocker folder and done. Only you can see what is inside that folder. Backup this folder to your Cloud and no matter what your data is 100% encrypted from all prying eyes.

You only pay if you want more than 3GB of cloud storage. If you only need 2 TB of storage, this might be a great choice (LINK HERE), but for most of use we need more than that so we look for alternative cloud services (which is covered below).

Or you can use a paid backup software option the allows encryption of your backups. The plus to using this that they will usually offer incremental backup which means if update a file, then it will only backup that single changed file

Cloud Storage
Now comes the part that started this whole thread… affordable & secure online storage. I had several reservations about several cloud storage weak security holes, but now that I have found NordLocker I feel more comfortable with several of them.

• iDrive – 5TB / 10TB – Link HERE. I have used them in the past and they have some of the best security (combined with NordLocker is nearly perfect security wise). Personally after reviewing all options for several months, I have decided to go with iDrive again for this coming year. For the first year for 5 TB it is $5 / mo ($60 / yr) or for 10 TB for only $6.25 / mo ($75 / yr).

• Google Workspace – 2 TB to Unlimited Storage – Link HERE. I had a huge issue with Google Workspace as they literally scan your documents you have stored. But with NordLocker or an encrypred (usually paid for) backup software I would be more comfortable using them again. Last year they also changed their plans which raised their prices, $12 a month for only 2TB up to around $20 for Unlimited with the Enterprise Plan.