Backup over VPN with low transfer *speeds*

[Pectojin]

@whitenack

Is it best to run the backup on the source machine, which puts the scanning of updated files on the same side as the data to be backed up

Yes

@whitenack

but has to read the prior backup info across the slow VPN tunnel?

It actually doesn’t because there will be a local record of what data is on the remote site

@whitenack

is it best to run the backup on the destination machine, which has quick access to the prior backup information but has to scan the new files across the VPN?

Very bad idea. This will give terrible performance. Any “changed” file has to be hashed, which means Duplicati has to then download the entire file to read it. And sometimes the file hasn’t even changed but Duplicati double checks (if for example some metadata was updated).

@whitenack

Obviously the backup has to travel across the VPN in both scenarios, but I’m trying to figure out if it matters on the rest of the backup process.

I always advice to keep Duplicati on the source machine unless you have very specific use-cases or if it’s simply not possible (e.g. data on a “dumb” network share from a router or something)