Understand the differences between repository types and choose the best option for your needs

About Repositories in Borgmatic Director UI

A repository is where your backups are stored. Borgmatic Director UI supports multiple repository types, each with different performance characteristics. The choice of repository type significantly impacts backup speed, resource usage, and reliability. Understanding these differences helps you make informed decisions for your backup strategy.

Performance Comparison

Repository Type	Speed Rating	Storage Mode	Best Use Case
Local Filesystem Direct filesystem access on the same machine or fast local network	Fastest 100%	Direct	Same machine backups, fast local network storage ⚠️ Not recommended due to potential data loss in case of disk crash or malicious attacks
SSH (Native Borg) Borg's native SSH protocol with optimized deduplication and compression	Very Fast 90%	Direct	Remote servers with Borg installed, production backups
S3 Direct (Native) Borg's native S3 support using boto3, optimized for cloud object storage	Fast 75%	Direct	Cloud storage (AWS, Hetzner, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, MinIO)
SFTP SSH-based file transfer protocol, works without Borg on remote	Moderate 60%	Direct	Remote servers without Borg installed
Rclone Direct (Mounted) Rclone FUSE mount for 100+ cloud providers	Moderate-Slow 50%	Direct (FUSE)	Cloud providers not natively supported (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.)
Network Mounts (NFS/SMB) Network filesystems like NFS, SMB/CIFS	Slow 45%	Direct (mount)	Existing network storage infrastructure
S3 Sync Mode Write locally first, then sync to S3 using Rclone	Slow 40%	Sync	When S3 direct mode is not available
Rclone Sync Mode Write locally first, then sync to cloud	Slowest 35%	Sync	When direct mounting is not possible

Detailed Explanations

Local Filesystem Direct filesystem access on the same machine or fast local network ✓ Advantages Fastest performance No network overhead Lowest latency Simple setup ✗ Limitations Requires local storage No off-site backup Vulnerable to local disasters

SSH (Native Borg) Borg's native SSH protocol with optimized deduplication and compression ✓ Advantages Highly optimized Native Borg protocol Efficient deduplication Secure ✗ Limitations Requires Borg on remote server Needs SSH access

S3 Direct (Native) Borg's native S3 support using boto3, optimized for cloud object storage ✓ Advantages Native S3 support Optimized for cloud Scalable Works with many providers ✗ Limitations Network latency S3 API overhead Costs per request

SFTP SSH-based file transfer protocol, slower than native SSH but works without Borg on remote ✓ Advantages Works without Borg on remote Secure Standard protocol ✗ Limitations Protocol overhead Slower than native SSH Less optimized

Quick Decision Guide

• You have a remote server with Borg installed
• You want the fastest remote backup performance
• You need production-grade reliability
• You have SSH access to the remote server

• You're using cloud object storage (AWS, Hetzner, Wasabi, etc.)
• You want native cloud integration
• You need scalable storage

• You need providers not natively supported (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.)
• You can accept moderate performance
• You need unified access to multiple providers

• It's the slowest option due to double write overhead
• Requires local storage space
• Adds complexity and potential failure points

Performance Tips