[clug] Cloud + rsync + backup

[Eyal Lebedinsky]

On 08/03/15 11:39, Andrew Janke wrote:
> Anyone have some wisdom to share here?  I'm looking at things like:
>
>     https://github.com/HolgerHees/cloudsync
>
> But it's java.... There's also this thing:
>
>     http://www.duplicati.com/
>
> Ideally I want a file level encrypted remote backup (to Google Drive)
> with keys kept locally, connection via ADSL so it has to be
> incremental. Some keep a full image and incrementals, some (like
> rsync-backup) keep a current version up to date and keep diffs back to
> a previous state. It doesn't seem that rsync supports encryption?

Just thinking. rsync is looking for matching checksums to reduce traffic. An even
minor change in a file can cause a major change to the encrypted version so this
kind of kills this benefit.

I assume your local data is cleartext, remote is encrypted. Even if rsync could
encrypt the remote files it will be difficult to detect changes unless you just
trust filename and timestamp.

Could you simply keep an encrypted filesystem in the cloud? This runs the risk
of the encryption key being there too. Not good.

So the traffic should be already encrypted. I would consider keeping a local
backup, in the format you want to sync out (encrypted). Keep the local
up-to-date with something smart (roll your own?) and rsync the local backup
to the cloud. Small cleartext changes will still export a large amount of data.

This needs more thinking but I will be surprised if there is not already a
good solution - this is a common problem.

cheers
	Eyal

> I'm curious as to how a restore happens if all you have is a key. I
> take it isn't going to happen if you don't keep a backup of your key
> somewhere!
>
> If it helps I currently use dirvish for local backups and rsync the
> current state of things to a geographically distant thing.
>
> ta
>
>
> a

-- 
Eyal Lebedinsky (eyal at eyal.emu.id.au)