Repository Guide

Repository Types & Performance Guide 

 

 

 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. 

 

 

 

 

 

 Direct Mode 

 Borg writes directly to the remote storage. This is the fastest method as there's no intermediate step. 

 

 

 Sync Mode 

 Borg writes locally first, then a sync tool (like Rclone) copies to cloud. This adds overhead and delay. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 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 

 

 Choose SSH (Native) if: 

 

 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 

 

 

 

 Choose S3 Direct if: 

 

 You're using cloud object storage (AWS, Hetzner, Wasabi, etc.) 

 You want native cloud integration 

 You need scalable storage 

 

 

 

 Choose Rclone Direct (Mounted) if: 

 

 You need providers not natively supported (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) 

 You can accept moderate performance 

 You need unified access to multiple providers 

 

 

 

 Avoid Sync Mode if possible: 

 

 It's the slowest option due to double write overhead 

 Requires local storage space 

 Adds complexity and potential failure points 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Performance Tips 

 

 SSH is fastest: If you have a remote server, SSH (native Borg) is almost always the fastest option 

 Direct beats Sync: Always prefer direct mode over sync mode when possible 

 Avoid double writes: Sync mode writes data twice (locally + cloud), significantly slowing backups 

 Compression helps: Enable compression (LZ4) to reduce data transfer over network 

 Deduplication is key: Borg's deduplication works best with direct protocols like SSH