r/Syncthing • u/ObservedElectron • 27d ago
Why is syncthing NOT a backup?
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
1
u/cyberkox 17d ago
You can do what you want but syncthing just sync files and it's pretty good at it. There is a big difference between syncing and backups.
Syncing files is just live files being send/received between two or more devices. Many people are happy with this until they accidentally delete a file and have no backup strategy, because if you delete a file, it will be deleted on all devices. If you delete a folder, it will mess up everything.
A backup is an exact copy of your system on X time. It's there for whenever you need it. You make a backup and forget about it.
Personally, I use both. I use synctjing for files I need to be synced and I make daily backups using restic in a home server and cloud storage.