Encrypted offsite backup
for TrueNAS, Synology, and QNAP

Why local NAS redundancy is not offsite backup

RAID protects against disk failure. It does not protect against theft, fire, flooding, or ransomware that encrypts the entire NAS filesystem. The 3-2-1 rule exists precisely because of this: three copies, two media types, one offsite. The offsite copy is the one most people skip.

TrueNAS Scale - restic via script task

TrueNAS Scale lets you run scripts on a schedule. Create a script task with this:

#!/bin/bash
export RESTIC_REPOSITORY="sftp:vaultuser@vault.servercrate.net:22150:/data"
export RESTIC_PASSWORD="your-repository-password"

restic backup \
  /mnt/pool/critical \
  /mnt/pool/documents \
  --exclude="/mnt/pool/media" \
  --tag truenas

restic forget --keep-daily 14 --keep-weekly 8 --tag truenas --prune

The first run uploads everything. Subsequent runs are incremental and fast.

Synology NAS - using the SSH task scheduler

Enable SSH on your Synology, install restic as a binary, then create a scheduled task in the Task Scheduler that runs your backup script.

# Download restic binary for your architecture
# arm64 for most modern Synology
wget https://github.com/restic/restic/releases/latest/download/restic_linux_arm64.bz2
bunzip2 restic_linux_arm64.bz2
mv restic_linux_arm64 /usr/local/bin/restic
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/restic

# Initialize repository
export RESTIC_REPOSITORY="sftp:vaultuser@vault.servercrate.net:22150:/data"
export RESTIC_PASSWORD="your-password"
restic init

# Run first backup
restic backup /volume1/important --tag synology

What to back up (and what to skip)

• Back up:Documents, photos, project files, config exports, database dumps, anything irreplaceable.
• Skip:Media libraries (movies, music you can re-download), large ISO collections, TimeMachine backups (back up the source instead).

With restic deduplication, backing up critical data rather than everything keeps your ServerCrate vault small and your monthly cost predictable.

What to back up from your NAS - and what to skip

NAS devices typically hold a mix of data with very different backup priorities. Backing up everything offsite is often impractical due to size and cost. A tiered approach works better:

• Must back up offsite:Family photos and videos originals, important documents, business records, financial files, anything irreplaceable. These belong in every offsite snapshot.
• Should back up offsite:Application configs, database files, custom scripts, home automation configurations. Painful to recreate but smaller in size.
• Local backup only:Media libraries (music, downloaded films), ISO collections, content that can be re-acquired. Too large for offsite, low urgency.
• No backup needed:Transcoding cache, thumbnail cache, temp files, OS volumes. All regenerated automatically.

QNAP NAS - running restic via Container Station

QNAP's Container Station supports Docker, which means you can run the restic container image directly on the NAS. Mount your shared folders read-only into the container and configure a scheduled task in Container Station to run the backup nightly. This works on any QNAP model with Container Station installed and at least 2GB RAM.

Pricing guidance for NAS offsite backup

For a typical home NAS with 50-200 GB of irreplaceable photos, documents, and configs, the Starter plan (100 GB, $5/month) or Standard plan (500 GB, $15/month) covers most setups. Restic's deduplication means the stored size is significantly smaller than the source - daily photo additions deduplicate heavily against existing snapshots. A 200 GB photo library with normal daily growth typically stores in under 220 GB with 30 days of snapshots.