Restic
title: restic radar_quadrant: Tools radar_ring: Assess radar_position: inner created: 2026-05-26 last_updated: 2026-05-26 tags: [backup, encryption, deduplication, homelab, self-hosted, s3, sftp] source_url: https://restic.net
An open-source backup program written in Go. Designed for fast, secure, encrypted backups with content-addressable deduplication. Supports a wide range of storage backends: local filesystem, SFTP, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud Storage, and REST server. Considered the de facto standard for self-hosted encrypted backup among homelab operators.
Encryption by default. All data is encrypted client-side using AES-256 before leaving the machine. The storage backend never sees plaintext data.
Deduplication. Data is split into variable-size chunks via content-defined chunking. Duplicate chunks across snapshots and repositories are stored only once, making incremental backups space-efficient without requiring a full-sync pass.
Snapshot model. Each backup run creates a named snapshot. Snapshots can be listed, mounted as a FUSE filesystem, restored selectively, and pruned by policy (keep last N, keep monthly, etc.).
Backend agnosticism. The same CLI and repository format works across all supported backends. Switching from local disk to S3 or B2 requires only changing the repository URL.
Integrity verification. restic check verifies repository consistency and optionally reads all data blobs, detecting silent corruption.
Complements HomelabBackupStrategies as the concrete tool for the backup execution layer. The GitOps Docker Container Updates pattern assumes persistent data must be backed up independently of container images — restic covers that layer. Pairs with Rclone for syncing restic repositories across multiple cloud destinations.
Placed in Tools / Assess / inner. Mature, widely adopted, and purpose-built for the encrypted self-hosted backup use case. Inner position reflects near-universal applicability to any homelab or self-hosted setup handling persistent data. Trial gate: a scheduled restic backup job completing successfully with at least one verified restore from the encrypted repository.
