Discussion · BT Free Social

Discussion

We take data-safety of our Mastodon user data serious and have implemented multiple levels of backups with rigorous bi-yearly restore tests and documentation.

We do:
- Periodic local file-system snapshots (Every 15 minutes).

- Filesystem replication to backup-server in Germany (Hetzner, Falkenstein).

- Filesystem replication to second backup-server in Switzerland (Equinix ZH4, Zürich).

- GPG Encrypted application-layer backup (PostgreSQL, Mastodon configuration) to server from @tux in Germany.

Every single one of those backup-layers is monitored and tested (real recover) bi-yearly at least.

Our infrastructure runs on FreeBSD/ZFS with one backup-layer using "zfs send/recv" plus an additional application-layer backup that's using pg_dump+gpg. Just to be on the safe side.

All backup-jobs are monitored and the status (success/fail) is transperently visible on https://status.burningboard.net/

#mastodon #mastoadmin #freebsd #zfs #backups #digitalindipendence

Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺

@AlienJay@burningboard.net replied · 6 days ago

@Larvitz @tux That’s a lot of effort for it. Thanks for doing it. 🙏🏻
I guess it’s not cheap to run it in this complexity with different hosts in the background.
I never asked before I moved to your instance but I’m doing it now.
How do you organise the cost sharing. Do you have an account for donations to participate on the costs to run the instance?

Larvitz :fedora: :redhat:

@Larvitz@burningboard.net replied · 6 days ago

@AlienJay @tux Our operational costs aren't actually that high! The main costs are the primary application/DB server and the S3-Storge for media files and that's around 20-25€/Month and we still have plenty of headroom.

The "auxiliary infrastructure" (Montioring, Backup) is shared with my freelancing infrastructure, that I maintain anyway. The added storage consumption to hold backups of our Mastodon Instance there is negligible.

We don't officially have a donation program, but if you'd like to donate a small amount for the operation, we can find a way (EU-SEPA or Paypal etc.). Right now, I have a recurring donation from @tux that helps cover parts of the bill.

Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺

@AlienJay@burningboard.net replied · 6 days ago

@Larvitz @tux Although you said the costs aren’t that much, and some of them you would have anyway, I think it should be published. Running instances of the Fediverse isn’t for free. And showing the costs of it gives a better awareness of it.
It doesn’t matter how much or how few it is. The servers to run the instance have costs. The storage needs to be paid. What about Deepl? You’re using it for the translation function. That might cause costs as well.
And also you’re spending a lot of your personal time to maintain the system and keep it running. And showing all this maybe let users thinking about participating in any way.
E.g. I’d like to donate for a month media storage. It’s not much, I know. But if others would do this as well now and again maybe the costs for a year are covert. I think that is fair, isn’t it.

Marcel Stritzelberger

@marzlberger@neander.social replied · 6 days ago

@Larvitz @tux #FreeBSD and #ZFS in its glory! 😁 Nice!

Larvitz :fedora: :redhat:

@Larvitz@burningboard.net replied · 6 days ago

@marzlberger @tux sanoid and syncoid makes that pretty comfortable to manage ;-)

BT Free Social

BT Free is a non-profit organization founded by @ozoned@btfree.social . It's goal is for digital privacy rights, advocacy and consulting. This goal will be attained by hosting open platforms to allow others to seamlessly join the Fediverse on moderated instances or by helping others join the Fediverse.

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