On Ma, 06 mar 12, 19:18:49, 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. From what I know of the BitTorrent protocol it is beneficial only if the data needs to be transfered to more than 1 site, where the remote site(s) are not sharing the same internet connection, otherwise it doesn't bring any benefit over ftp/rsync/etc. It's not obvious from your message if this is the case. > 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. I'm not sure what you consider to be a "public" torrent, but in my very un-informed opinion, encrypted torrents should be quite secure already, just don't use a public tracker or distribute the DHT key. Yes, there is a bit of security-by-obscurity here, but I wouldn't worry about it unless it was really sensitive data. > My data is sorted in directories by year. If I make torrents for each > year, most of the data will be static. But how should I handle the > current year's data? Can I update the torrent file without forcing a > re-download of all the current year's data? Not sure, but even if you create a new torrent each time you add more data, all clients I have tried so far will not re-download, but they will re-check the hash on all existing data. Kind regards, Andrei -- Offtopic discussions among Debian users and developers: http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/d-community-offtopic
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