I’m looking at setting up a used M1 Mac mini as part of my file backup system, replacing a somewhat complicated dual Synology NAS system that is not as reliable as I’d like. Want to see if I’m missing anything…
I have about 12 tb of data and add about a terabyte per year of photo and video files. Here’s what I’m thinking:
Connect a OWC Thunderbay enclosure to the Mini
Chronosync backs up my direct attached working drive files from my workstation to that drive on the Mini server at night
The Mini has a Backblaze personal account on it that backs up external drives that are connected to it
Does this sound like a good idea? Do I need more computing power than a 16gb ram, 256gb ssd, m1 Mini for this purpose?
Yes, it’s a good idea. And that M1 Mini will be more than fine.
It could, but in my experience Backblaze uses a non-trivial amount of resources for large backup sets.
This setup - a Mac Mini “server” that does backups - is what I do. I’m not sure if I’d buy a new Mini for it, but it’s a really good use for one you have laying around.
And you don’t need any more computing power. Mine runs just fine with 8GB RAM with room to spare, and I’m running Plex and Unifi as well. I’ve got 1TB internal because I upgraded from an older mini with 1TB internal and I didn’t what to do any structural changes.
This is exactly my experience. It’s not a problem for a computer whose primary job is backups/Plex/file server type stuff. But it is a reason for another computer if you do anything even remotely heavy in terms of workload on your primary.
Curious, my experience is very different. I have 19TB currently backed up with Backblaze. Right now it is using less than 100 MB of RAM, and less than 2% of the CPU. (Mac Studio M1 Max, 64 GB RAM)
One of my hobbies is photography and I add images daily.
I have it set up to backup continuously, and it did take over a month of my 2010 MacPro running nonstop to complete the initial backup (fortunately I was traveling most of that time) . But on my Mac Studio today it is a minimal load.
I suppose if your system is resource constrained it may make a difference. But I don’t see much of an impact at all.
I do wonder what I would do to maintain backup integrity while I’m doing the initial backup to Backblaze since it would take quite a long time… I only get about 75mbps upload with Comcast business.
When I come back from a wedding with 30,000 photos, I need to make sure this are backed up within a few days…
That is pretty much the setup I have. 4 drive OWC with one drive for CCC backups from both our computers, another for Time Machine, and one for all our media files and archives. The CCC copies and media get backed up to Backblaze.
My initial backup took 2 months for about 5tb of data. Also Cox complained about going over our data allowance. While it’s doing the initial backup you might want another backup to take offsite.
This is very similar to my backup/archive server except that I have the last generation Intel Mini (2018 i5). Even that old machine has absolutely no problem backing things up to TimeMachine drives, copying via CCC, and pushing things up to Backblaze.
Anyone have thoughts on best way to maintain data integrity during the initial backup?
This is what I’m thinking:
Copy the contents of my NAS to the new external drive enclosure
Connect the new drive to the Mac Mini server and set up Backblaze on it to begin the upload
Continue backing up my working drive to the NAS as I’ve been doing
Once the initial backup to Backblaze is complete, re-connect the new drive to my NAS and update it with any new data and then re-connect it to the Mac Mini server
Set up the new drive on the Mac Mini server as the new destination for my working drive backup
Does that sound like I won’t risk anything?
Thanks!
TBH, I’d make one slight change and set up some form of network sync between the NAS and Server after the initial copy so that changes are on both (say) once an hour. That means that if one dies, the other has a pretty much full copy. This is backed up to Backblaze by the NAS also. Then when your initial backup on the Server is complete, it’s complete within a short while.
Otherwise with your 4th step, depending on how long it takes to do the initial backup on the server, it may take days to backup the newly copied data and do you then resync from the NAS again?
Hmm. Yeah, good point. Would need to figure out a way to do a one way mirror sync job from the NAS to the Server… I’ve never done that. Guessing Synology has something in there I can figure out…
Don’t know what options Synology supports, but a command-line rsync would do that. For huge data sets I wouldn’t want to rely on it being fast, but it would accomplish the one-way sync.
If you can refrain from backing up while doing step 1, then do step 2 and 5 and just skip the hassle of the extra sync needed if you were to do steps 3 and 4. You can do your local backup while Backblaze is doing its initial upload.
Keep my Chronosync backup going from workstation to NAS
Keep my backup going from NAS to offsite NAS
USB copy data from NAS to new DAS drive
Connect new DAS to Mac mini Server and begin Backblaze backup
*Add a Chronosync backup job from workstation to new Server
Thats how I use my base mini. It replaced my intel mini. I have 3 hard drives stuck in the back (total 28 TB) that get backblazed. It handles any file automation, scripts, etc. I use the front two ports for printer and scansnap. Its totally hidden away. I run an hdmi cable from it covertly to my monitor I use for my macbook pro. If I ever need to take a peek or need to do something, its available. But in reality its “headless”.
