Re: using bittorrent for backup of personal files
On Tue, Mar 06, 2012 at 07:18:49PM -0500, Rob Owens wrote:
> I'm considering using bittorrent to back up large files such as pictures
> and home movies. I am the admin for several of my family members'
> computers. The idea would be to back up my files onto their machines,
> then eventually back their stuff up in the same manner, resulting in
> several off-site backups for each of us.
This idea sounds interesting! I have a lot of data at home, but I have no
personal backup server or something like that, I only copy important stuff from
one harddisk to another disk.
>
> I already use BackupPC successfully for offsite backups between family
> members. Very large files are sometimes a problem, however, which is
> why I'm considering bittorrent to supplement BackupPC.
>
Thats the problem with a very slow bandwidth (I have only 250 kbps) which makes
a backup of more than 1500 GB stuff nearly impossible! The p2p torrent network
has - in this situation - no advantage! The upload with ftp or http has the same
speed. p2p networks are designed to provide a constant "download-speed". But
upload is the problem of your dsl provider.
p2p is more about "sharing" things. It was not built to backup large files. This
is the task of ftp or maybe nfs
> I want to keep this data private. What are my options, besides a VPN?
> I hesitate to use a public torrent even on encrypted data, because the
> computers of tomorrow may easily crack today's encryption using brute
> force.
One possible solution to your privacy problem is that you can encrypt your data
at your local site and load the crypted stuff up to the p2p server. Furter
details can be found in gpg(1).
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