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The original was posted on /r/unraid by /u/john3429493 on 2023-09-07 03:39:50.

ZFS Pool+RaidZ+Snapshots equivalent to backups (maybe even better than traditional backups)?

I’m considering using ZFS as my backup solution. Instead of using a dedicated backup tool (e.g. restic), I’m thinking of just doing this:

  1. Create an Unraid ZFS pool with 3 equally sized hard drives.

  2. RAIDZ1 (maybe RAIDZ2 in the future).

  3. Stripe the parity across the drives via ZFS.

  4. Create snapshots via ZFS.

  5. Schedule periodic snapshots and scrubs.

  6. If I add more storage (add another drive), my backups/parity are automatically taken care of.

What I like about this solution is:

  1. It does everything: parity, backups, integrity checks, restoring/healing. Also managed from the Unraid UI. Also like the idea that everything is included at the root level for complete protection.

  2. My backups are parity protected !!! Right?

  3. If I decide not to use Unraid in the future, my ZFS pool/parity/snapshots are still 100% portable and functional to migrate to another platform.

Note 1: For critical data, I backup to the cloud too.

Note 2: I have no plans to backup my complete data pool to the cloud or remote server (too expensive).

Thoughts?