I have invested a lot of time building the media for my Plex server, let alone custom posters I made personally, metadata, custom collections, etc…
- Backblaze Plex Server
- Backblaze Plex
- Best Cloud Storage For Plex
- Plex Server Backup
- Plex Unlimited Cloud Storage
- Backblaze Plexaderm
Backblaze B2 is enterprise-grade, S3 compatible storage that companies around the world use to store and serve data while improving their cloud OpEx vs. Amazon S3 and others. Developers use it to easily build apps and manage services. IT leaders use it to backup. Enter a Task name (ex. Backblaze S3 Backup), then click Next and Apply. Your backup task is now complete. The S3 Compatible API for Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage allows 1000’s of integrations to work with B2 natively. If you’re new to the S3 Compatible API, please see our Getting Started Guide.
I host it on a NAS (WD My Cloud PR4100) 16 TB with raid, so available 8TB data storage. I currently have 7TB used for my Plex.
There are several online storage options out there today… cloud storage, VPS (Virtual Private Servers), RSS (Remote Storage System), etc… and I have searched the forums here but all discussions I have found here about current Online / VPN / RSS / Cloud Backup options are either unanswered or obsolete now in 2020 (soon to be 2021 with more changes to current options coming that will restrict options even further).
For example here were some good options in the past (with many of them offered as solutions in past threads in this forum) but now in 2020 (or 2021) have changed to the point they are not viable due to their policy or storage plan changes or price increases…
Goole Gsuite – I currently have been using Google GSuite with unlimited data, But they have officially announced within the last month or so that they are ending Gsuite unlimited storage for $12 a month and replacing it with multi-tiered new plans under the new renamed “Workspace” branding and that all Gsuite customers are going to be forced into (Link HERE). The problem is that to retain the unlimited data it will now cost $30 a month ($360 a year) . All other plans have caps like 2TB or 5TB. This is why I am trying to find another option as soon as possible.
CrashPlan – CrashPlan, even though it has had it’s challenges, it was a historical popular cloud storage option because it offers unlimited storage for only $10 a month (link HERE). The challenge with them is that within the last year they started blocking Plex Server in their backups (./Plex Media Server/.). You can see the full list of all the directories they are now blocking from backing up in the link HERE.
This has been brought up in threads in the past and Plex said they were going to reach out to CrashPlan to see if they can work with them to limit their restrictions with backing up Plex servers, but Plex never followed up. (CrashPlan Small Business BLOCKS Plex backups!)Amazon – As shared in this thread, Amazon used to also offer unlimited storage, but has since stopped offering that. Now, as far as I can tell, it would be very expensive to use. (Backup all movies to amazon cloud)
iDrive – Is a good highly rated option (and I have used them in the past). They have historically only offered a max of 5TB, so when I saw they are currently offering a 10TB option for $8.33 a month or $100 yearly after the promotional first year (link HERE) I was ready to jump on the offer…until I read the small very fine print at the bottom that said “the normal storage of 5TB Personal Plan is set at 10TB for a limited time.” I have emailed iDrive asking if I sign up and upload 8TB now will I be forced to delete 3TB from my backup in the future if it is reduced it back down to only a 5TB plan again? I will post their reply when I get it.
OneDrive / DropBox / Box / Sync / etc… – They may vary slightly but they are all basically the same pricing…as many of these have veered away from personal plan options and focused on business options. They say unlimited storage for only $15 a month. Sounds great until you read the fine print that says minimum of 3 users (so now it jumps to $45 a month / $450 a year). Or they say you have 10TB or 15TB which sounds great until you read the fine print and it says again minimum of 2-3 users with a storage cap of 2TB to 5TB per user.
There are several more examples of opportunities for more than 10 TB cloud storage options in the past that are no longer viable or have doubled / tripled in price making them unattractive now. This is a strange turn of events when looking at the history of technologies advances… they are usually limited and expensive when they start but become cheaper with wider options as they mature. It is just the opposite with online storage. It was cheaper with more options in the past and more expensive with less options and more restrictions as the years roll on.
So after all that…here is the question…
What options are available now in 2020 and the upcoming year of 2021 that meet the following criteria that historically has not been a problem when looking for online storage that meet these basic criteria:
- Is AFFORDABLE (like $8 to $15 a month or $80 to $100 a year)
- Have at least 10TB to Unlimited storage that
- Does NOT restrict backing up a Plex server
- Does NOT require a minimum number of users
- Does NOT restrict each user to only 1TB to 5TB storage in spite of the plan offering 15TB or more for the plan
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | |
| Founded | April 20, 2007; 13 years ago |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | , United States |
| |
| Products | |
| Website | www.backblaze.com |
Backblaze, Inc. is a cloud storage and data backup company, founded in 2007 by Gleb Budman, Billy Ng, Nilay Patel, Brian Wilson, Tim Nufire, Damon Uyeda, and Casey Jones.[1] Its two main products are their B2 Cloud Storage and Computer Backup services, targeted at both business and personal markets.
Products[edit]
Cloud Backup[edit]
Backblaze's first product was its computer backup, offering users to back up their computer data continuously and automatically with a monthly subscription service. The service makes use of AES encryption for security, and uses data compression and bandwidth optimization to reduce upload and download times. Files that need to be restored can be delivered in the form of a digital download,[2] on an external hard drive or flash drive.[3] File versioning and history is available, however there is a cap to 30 days or an additional cost per month.
Backblaze B2 Storage[edit]
In September 2015, Backblaze launched a new product, B2 Cloud Storage. Being an Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), it is targeted at software integration for different kinds of businesses. It directly competes with similar services, such as Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.[4] In April 2018, Backblaze announced cloud computing partnerships[5] that directly connect Backblaze's data centers with its partners, Packet and ServerCentral.
Technology[edit]
Data centers[edit]
Backblaze has four data centers; three are in the United States and one is in Europe. Two U.S. data centers are in Northern California near Sacramento, and one is in Phoenix, Arizona. Backblaze's data center in the European Union is located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.[6]
Redundancy[edit]
In order to increase redundancy, data uploaded onto Backblaze's data center is sharded into 17 data pieces and three parity shards for each file. Parity shard bits are computed by the Reed–Solomon error correction algorithm. The shards are stored in 20 different drives, each in a separate cabinet to increase resilience to a power loss to an entire cabinet, or other physically-based issue. Backblaze states that its 'Vault' architecture is designed with 99.999999999% annual durability.[7]
Encryption[edit]
Backblaze Plex Server
For Computer Backup, Backblaze uses a combination of AES and SSL encryption to protect user data. Data is stored in Backblaze storage using Reed-Solomon erasure coding[citation needed] and encrypted with the user's private key, which is secured with the user's password and username. The default encryption of private keys is done server side, which is unlikely to protect against government subpoena or serious data breach. Users desiring additional security and privacy can use the optional private encryption key (PEK),[8] but the PEK passphrase is sent to the server when it is initially set, and must be sent again to restore any data.[9]
Encryption for their B2 storage is handled entirely by the user and client software to manage the stored data, making it immune to government subpoena or data breach and protecting the data during transfer and ultimate storage in Backblaze's data centers.
Storage Pod open design[edit]
In 2009 and 2011, the company released CAD drawings of the computer case used by the storage servers in its datacenters. With commercial off-the-shelf components such as x64 processors, disks, and motherboards, high-density storage servers can be built at a lower cost than commercial ones.[10] The company has since made six iterations of the design over the years.
Backblaze Plex
Best Cloud Storage For Plex
References[edit]
Plex Server Backup
- ^'Backblaze Team'. Backblaze.com. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^'Backblaze: Online Backup With Time Machine's Finesse'. TechCrunch. 2008-06-02. Retrieved 2016-03-28.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^'Larger Longer Faster Better'. BackBlaze. Retrieved 24 February 2019.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^'B2 Cloud Storage Pricing'. 2 January 2018.
- ^'Backblaze Announces B2 Compute Partnerships'. Backblaze.com. Retrieved 2018-04-03.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^'Backblaze opens data center in Amsterdam, retains same pricing as US'. TechRepublic.com. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
- ^'Backblaze Durability is 99.999999999% — And Why It Doesn't Matter'. Backblaze.com. Retrieved 2018-07-17.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^'Online Backup Security & Encryption'. Backblaze. Retrieved 2016-03-23.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^'Security Question Round-up!'. Backblaze. 2017-09-12. Retrieved 2019-11-08.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^'Petabytes on a Budget v2.0:Revealing More Secrets'. Blog.backblaze.com. Retrieved 2016-03-28.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
Plex Unlimited Cloud Storage
External links[edit]
Backblaze Plexaderm