Backups should be future-proof.
Very happy to report that my ‘backup box’ has successfully transferred the whole 2.4TB borg backup archive of the crucial files on my homelab server and entire home network, after it was deduped and encrypted, over rsync over the electric circuit in my rented house via powerline adaptors.
The backup box has a 10TB ZFS partition.
Now I am going to SHUT IT DOWN as per E.’s excellent cyber security suggestion - “SHUT DOWN COMPUTERS WHILE THEY ARE NOT IN USE”. Computers which are not on are much more difficult to hack!
I am eventually going to sort out a wake-on-lan setup where I can use my JetKVM to remotely boot up the box, enter the system encryption password, and it will start pulling the latest backup from my server, and then automatically shut down when finished.
For now though, I am happy that I do not have to use AWS anymore for a reliable backup!
I am combining this with the technique suggested by B. of filling a couple of 12TB hard drives with data that doesn’t change regularly / is less important, such as my film, TV and music collections.. and mailing them to a trusted friend :)