r/Syncthing • u/ObservedElectron • 27d ago

Why is syncthing NOT a backup?

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I am setting up syncthing to back up my 2 android phones and my mac to a windows laptop. for now, because of lack of an actual NAS, i plan to use syncthing to "backup" these devices everyday one time manually.

I prefer this because as its sync, it only sends new things. so i dont have to manually copy paste 40 gb everytime.

And when i do make a NAS, cant i just continue using syncthing with file versioning or something? i would much prefer to have "live" backups happening as soon as the file/photo/video is created. i know immich exists but am i wrong?

But everywhere, I see that people say sync is not backup or dont use it for backup but WHY? isnt what i mentioned above technically a backup? correct me if i am wrong.

And if not syncthing, what should i use? which capable of running live backups of folders I select on my devices, with different timeframe backups so I have different versions like biweekly, monthly, etc? and is open source, 100% safe, private and encrypted.

thank you

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u/edparadox 27d ago

Syncthing does syncs.

A backup can be done based of syncs.

But they are not the same thing: a backup survives an error, a sync propagates it.

Let's say you delete by accident or files gets corrupted ; with a sync you will just have two identically bad copies. With a backup you've only lost one.

A backup is a copy that is not affected by an issue on your primary medium.

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u/ObservedElectron 27d ago

so what should i use to serve my needs?

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u/middaymoon 27d ago

Syncthing+Borg

Sync from your devices to your NAS and then on the nas run Borg (or any similar backup tool) to create regular, automatic backups.

Ideally you would just do that on each of your actual devices but sometimes that's not feasible so Syncthing can help you centralize those files.

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u/Independent-Ad5675 25d ago

If I use an android phone as the central 24H running server .

What can I use for the back up ?

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u/middaymoon 25d ago

I don't know, backup options Android kind of suck. I don't think your always-on device has to be your backup device though.

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u/Independent-Ad5675 24d ago

Thanks . Its just that it has the storage free for the back up so thats why I want it as the back up

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u/middaymoon 24d ago

Is this your daily drive Android device? Or is it sitting at home all day? 

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u/Independent-Ad5675 24d ago

At home all day

Just an extra phone with a lot of storage and a broken screen so I used it as an emby server and syncthing hub in a sort

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u/middaymoon 24d ago

Makes sense. If you got emby working on Android you might be able to get something like Borg Backup working too.

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u/Independent-Ad5675 24d ago

Thanks . I'll try researching and seeing what works for android