Raspberry Pi on steeman.be

Building a Robust Linux Backup Strategy with Borg

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0100

We have all heard the mantra: backups are important, test your backups, follow the 3-2-1 rule. But actually implementing a backup strategy that works reliably, alerts you when something goes wrong, and survives reboots is another matter entirely. This is the story of how I built — and continue to evolve — a comprehensive backup system for my homelab server.

Why I finally got serious about backups
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The catalyst was a failing hard drive. My backup disk, a WD Elements 4.5TB USB HDD, started showing signs of age. It had been quietly handling daily backups for years, but I could see the writing on the wall. This was the wake-up call I needed to not just replace the disk, but to rethink the entire backup strategy.

Raspberry Pi door bell

Fri, 20 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve always wanted a door bell that could e-mail me a picture whenever someone came to my door. This should be fairly easy using a Raspberry Pi, so I built one. Here’s the build log and code if you would like to build one yourself.

Raspberry Pi
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The core of this door bell is a Raspberry Pi, a small form factor and cheap computer board. I’m using the Raspi Model B+, although nowadays a newer and improved Model 2 is available.

Installing VSCP on a Raspberry Pi

Wed, 04 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s an overview of how to install vscp_software on a Raspberry Pi. It is based on the tutorial on setting up the VSCP daemon on Unix . I’m not only giving the commands but also the verbose output for most commands, so grease up your scroll wheel :-)

Updating the system
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First we need to make sure all installed packages on our system are up-to-date. We’ll do this by issuing sudo apt-get update to update the package list and status, and sudo apt-get upgrade to upgrade those which have newer versions.

Raspberry Pi setup

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post documents how I have set up my Raspberry Pi (model B+) for double duty as a VSCP daemon server and a pimped doorbell. This page is mostly for my own reference.

Static IP
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Find the DHCP address assigned to the Raspi. Log onto the Raspi through SSH and note the current IP settings:

sudo ifconfig

Then edit the /etc/network/interfaces file.

Raspberry Pi on steeman.be

Building a Robust Linux Backup Strategy with Borg

Why I finally got serious about backups #