Dying Hard Drives? This Cheap Fix & Geo-Backup Plan Is For You

Summary

When two critical hard drives in a NAS failed simultaneously, leading to a near-disaster of lost data, a solution emerged involving a partnership with Wendell from Level One Tech and the secure connectivity platform, Tailscale. The immediate problem of needing to replace and expand storage was addressed by sourcing affordable, used, and refurbished 18TB and 16TB SAS hard drives, costing significantly less than new ones, though thorough testing and warranties are crucial. A massive JBOD enclosure was then utilized to house these drives, connected to a powerful Mini-PCs via an HBA card, creating a substantial storage pool. The core of the long-term solution is a geo-redundant backup system built with Tailscale, enabling secure, encrypted data synchronization between geographically separate NAS systems. This is achieved by setting up virtual machines on each end, running TrueNAS, and using Tailscale to create a direct, private network connection. The systems then leverage ZFS replication for efficient, incremental, and encrypted backups, ensuring data safety even if one location experiences a catastrophic event. Tailscale's free tier for individuals and small businesses makes this advanced remote access and backup capability accessible.