[RndTbl] Is there an Muug like community based appetite for alternative to USB3 to Ethernet, to make NAS

[eh at eduardhiebert.com]

Although with fingers crossed I was hoping for better.  Nevertheless the 
facts are always friendly and I thank each of you for your detailed 
reply.  Thanks!

The idea of using encryption as part of backups with third parties was a 
novel new safety application for me but raises concerns like the guy who 
bought cryptocurrency but lost a huge sum because you know what he 
forgot?  :)

Eduard

   On 2023-02-09 22:08, Trevor Cordes wrote:
> On 2023-02-09 eh at eduardhiebert.com wrote:
>> Wondering what interest there might be in doing another variant on a
>> Muug type project but specific to creating a Muug type back-up
>> service and mirrored for increased saftey.   One system with huge
>> memory would be but a tiny fraction of many of us doing our own.  I'm
>> not suggesting our people with know how do this as a labour of love
>> but as a kind of community minded coop.
> 
> It's not a bad idea, but there are a couple of sticking points that
> make it a bit tough for MUUG:
> 
> 1. Liability for what members put on it.  What if they put naughty
> stuff?  Not sure tiny MUUG would get the same protection the big
> providers do.  Even if ultimately protected, any legal fight alone 
> would
> be disaster.
> 
> 2. Liability if we lose the data.
> 
> 3. Liability if the server gets hacked and data is leaked.
> 
> 4. Trust and need-to-know access levels on the server for board members
> (the admins).
> 
> 5. Hard to police that only members are using it.  (Pw sharing, etc.)
> 
> 6. Don't want to irk Les.
> 
> On the pro side, we do have decent space left still, and it would make
> a nice benefit for members.  My guess is it's not going to happen,
> unless lawyers and govs cease to exist tomorrow. :-)  But we will
> certainly discuss it at a board meeting as a member suggestion.
> 
> On 2023-02-10 Adam Thompson wrote:
>> The last time I ran the numbers for my own reasons (last year), what
>> I pay Backblaze ~$10/mo for would cost roughly ~$200/month for a
>> local operation, if operated on a "hobby" scale.  That's not a typo:
>> scale allows them to reduce total end-user costs by 20-fold and still
>> (presumably) make a profit.  Even more extreme ratios apply to public
>> or private cloud hosting.
> 
> Well, my personal business has run a backup service for local people /
> businesses for 22 years.  And I do it for gobs under $200/mo.  But yes,
> it's over $10 mo: then again it's a service, not a DIY self-managed
> cloud thing, and includes a free managed firewall/router setup (minus
> hardware)!  My point is, there are affordable options that still keep
> your data out of Silicon Valley/NSA, even if you don't want to DIY.
> 
> If someone wanted to do the same idea as a co-op thing, maybe that
> could work.  It might better fit a venue like Skullspace though?
> 
>> If encrypting your data locally and only then uploading it doesn't
>> meet your privacy requirements, you probably shouldn't be connected
>> to the internet at all...  Also, see Tarsnap, an online backup
>> service for the EXTREMELY privacy-conscious.
> 
> Ah, you're assuming SSL and <insert gov-endorsed encryption alg here>
> don't all have NSA backdoors.  You're not thinking like a paranoid,
> Adam! ;-)
> 
> Personally, my own data is on RAID-6 and is backed-up periodically to
> encrypted optical media and stored off-site using my own custom
> software.  I consider my data very safe, as it would take a volcano
> sprouting at Portage & Main or a nuke of all of the Wpg area to hose my
> data.  :-)