Why this matters
If you use Nextcloud, Immich, or other NB Cloud services, your data lives on hardware in this lab — not in a hyperscaler SaaS pool. That means durability is a design requirement here, not an SLA checkbox from a vendor. The goal: disk failure, a bad upgrade, or a site-level disaster should not permanently destroy your files.
The short version
- Primary copy — your photos and documents live on TrueNAS (ZFS) in the home rack.
- App / system copy — the servers themselves are snapshotted by Proxmox Backup Server (PBS).
- Offsite copy — both bulk libraries and PBS backups sync automatically to Cloudflare R2, outside the house.
- Access — invite-only accounts, Authentik SSO, and MFA so the right people see the right services.
What goes where
| Kind of data | Primary home | How it's protected |
|---|---|---|
| Photos (Immich), Nextcloud files, other bulk shares | TrueNAS ZFS | On-site ZFS storage + scheduled sync to Cloudflare R2 |
| App disks, databases, containers, VMs | Ceph on the Proxmox cluster | Replication across nodes + PBS snapshots + PBS sync to R2 |
Splitting bulk user files from boot/app disks keeps restores predictable and avoids stuffing huge photo libraries into VM backup jobs.
3-2-1 in practice
Good backup hygiene follows 3-2-1: three copies, two media types, one offsite. Replication alone — Ceph mirroring, RAID, live sync — propagates deletes and ransomware as reliably as good data. Independent, point-in-time copies with a separate restore path are what matter.
NB Cloud implements that pattern: live data on TrueNAS/Ceph, PBS retention on-site for system rollback, and R2 as the offsite failure domain against fire, flood, theft, or total rack loss.
What this is not
- Not a commercial cloud product with contractual SLAs — a shared personal platform with defined retention and recovery targets.
- Not indefinite version history; retention balances storage cost against useful rollback depth.
- Not a substitute for keeping irreplaceable originals in a second location you control, if you want personal redundancy beyond this stack.