Over three years ago I moved to using BorgBackup to keep my data save on other machines. Due to recent datacenter changes I needed to create a new remote space for my data.
Idea
The idea was simple: take some small computer, put some disk inside, install Debian and boot. And wait for incoming connections and store data for future.
Hardware selection
But then what kind of hardware to use? Many people would expect me to use something Arm based. Maybe Espressobin or RockPro64?
I have to admit: I though about them for a moment. And rejected both. First one stopped booting some time ago (no idea why), second one would require creating of case, checking does it boot etc.
Instead I used system which just got freed from duties: Fujitsu S920 thin terminal. I paid about 30-40€ for it a few months ago.
I took 1TB hard drive from a drawer (with just 100 days of use) for data, installed Debian stable on internal 120GB mSata drive and started setup.
Ansible
Some time ago I was reviewing a book for my friends: The Linux DevOps Handbook. So decided to use Ansible this time instead of doing things by hand. As this way I have playbooks to prepare another such system in case of need.
Some vault related issues later I had system setup the way I wanted, required packages installed and could start preparing it for being BorgBackup remote machine.
There are some example roles for it in BorgBackup documentation. I took those, adapted to my needs and then first backups were done.
Future steps
I have some work to finish still. For example I want system to send me an email each time backup will be done with information which system sent data, how much time and space it took and how much space left on internal drive.
And have to transfer machine to some remote location because now it is on a shelf at my home ;D