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How did this get fixed? I'm looking for an option to change my email for the reason.

OMG, I totally see the confusion now. I have edited that post and reworded it to be more clear. TrueNAS has no built-in means to do backups as part of their OS unless you consider rsync cron jobs/replication tasks as "backup". They don't facilitate the connection between servers or even setup the SSH permissions for you (you have to do all of that yourself). This is where our solution takes things a step further. We intend to make the experience much simpler. First you "friend" someone else that is a HexOS user (if you're doing the "buddy" approach). Then you will grant that user "permission" to backup to your system (and set a quota). Then they accept the request and authorize the backup in return (if you're doing that). Then we do the rest (establishing a secure VPN tunnel between systems, creating appropriate SSH users and handling the key exchange, etc.). You'll definitely be able to leverage the buddy backup system between two systems licensed under the same account. That would be silly of us to prohibit or unnecessarily complicate. I get the confusion. Buddy backup is just the marquee feature name for our backup solution between two servers. Every server needs a license. So if you and a buddy want to backup, you both have to have your own licenses under your own accounts. If you have two licenses for two systems under 1 account, you can use the same "buddy backup" system to handle that job as well. Apologies for muddying the water on my initial response. I can see how that had some folks confused, but I hope this clarifies.

NordVPN ExpressVPN Surfshark ProtonVPN Private Internet Access (PIA) CyberGhost Mullvad VyprVPN TunnelBear WireGuard OpenVPN

HexOS would greatly improve by offering VPN services as curated one‑click apps, similar to Jellyfin or Nextcloud. Support for all major commercial VPNs with GUI and their signature features: NordVPN (Meshnet & dedicated IP), ExpressVPN, Surfshark, ProtonVPN, Private Internet Access (PIA), CyberGhost, Mullvad, VyprVPN, TunnelBear, and others. Support for open‑source solutions: WireGuard and OpenVPN. One‑click installation and configuration without complex manual steps. Option to route traffic from specific containers or apps through the chosen VPN, or all server traffic via VPN or a dedicated IP (useful for game servers). Include key features offered by these VPNs, such as a killswitch to block traffic if the VPN connection drops (preventing leaks), split tunneling, multi‑hop, obfuscation, and other advanced options. Ideally, make all NordVPN features available, since NordVPN is widely used and unique features like Meshnet are especially valuable for secure access outside the home network. This would enhance usability, privacy, and flexibility. If these features are implemented, I am ready to migrate my TrueNAS pools to HexOS.

1 system/installation requires 1 license. And Buddy Backup is between 2 systems requiring a license each. The owner doesn't matter all you need to have is 2 Hexos installations/servers therefor 2 licence in total and you are good to go for buddy backup.

I think we are mostly on the same page with your response so let me throw out some scenarios to make sure we are all clear. 1) I was not a lifetime owner. I bought the $199 because I want to own a NAS and am joining the Beta though pretty late. I am now the proud owner of a HexOS NAS. and have built a machine and loaded the product. 1 license on 1 account and 1 server. 2) I see the two server option $298 option. That is equal to the original $99 deal plus the $199 current and long standing post black friday 2024 advertised price. I have 2 licenses on 1 account and up to 2 servers either physical or virtual including a mix of the two. If I don't know about the original black friday sale I simply see a (currently) full price license and a packaged reduced option for a second. 3) I bought in at the original black friday price and want a second license for another server. I am also 2 licenses on 1 account because there was no way to buy a second $99 black friday license on any account but the original. 4) People with vision (not me) who bought multiple licenses. Not sure I will get this right so please strike out what is incorrect. Those folks would have 2 licenses on 1 account. 5) Same as four except they bought multiple licenses on multiple accounts. For simplicity let's call it 2 licenses on 2 account. Assuming all these are valid (and someone exercised the options) it appears the buddy backup definition is really the hangup. I only see one reference to the buddy backup on the HexOS.com website (and no folks, I did not do an exhaustive search looking for more information). The site says "Buddy backups and replication Easily transfer data between two HexOS systems. Backup your data to a friend’s remote server using a secure connection". Since it only says systems and not licenses or accounts, I think that is a little confusing when held up against your above statement "The additional licenses is for users that want to setup multiple systems of their own, not for buddy backups.". I am guessing the confusion may simply be how will the buddy backup be executed. I believe TrueNAS already has ways to do backups. As well there are lots of apps that will do it if I say I don't like the way TrueNAS does it. So going out on a limb here I hope this backup is seup in the dashboard by identifying the second system. I hope it is along the line of I list the second license I want to backup to and when built (of course) I do the same in reverse order listing license 1 to connect to. I am setting aside encryption and size allocation because that is secondary to me but it must be managed somewhere. If it's account and license in that crosslinking process that will complicate or possibly eliminate the backup buddy option. I believe that is what we loyal but extremely ambitious are trying to understand. Is backup buddy system to system, license to license or account to account. Oh and for clarity I am thinking my userid or email represents my account and something else is my license. The statements that the second $99 license is not for backup buddy but you can be your own backup buddy (as sad as that sounds) might just need clarification in the future like before the sale ends for those just seeing this conversation and thinking I didn't think about being my own backup buddy. Way more than enough said and I will bow out now.

Forgive me, but I'm really confused by what you're saying, which means there is clearly a disconnect in our marketing language and understanding with customers as well and I want to get to the bottom of that. Let's try some clarification here: Buddy backup is a feature that will allow two HexOS users (customers) to backup to each other's server in an encrypted fashion. There is no reason you cannot be your own buddy with a second license (e.g. you buy a second server license and put a server at a secondary location). If someone bought two licenses during black friday under two separate accounts, each account can backup to each other just the same (and if they want to merge those two accounts, we can handle that for the user). With this sale, however, we are not allowing someone to buy a second license to transfer to another user (as it would open the door to reselling licenses which we don't support). I get that the term "buddy backup" may not clearly identify that you can be your own buddy, but we thought it would be fairly obvious that if you could backup to someone else on a separate account, you could also backup to yourself on the same account. I think we could loosen the "encryption" requirement in the case of backups between two servers owned by the same account, but that's more of a technical detail than marketing. Let me know what's still unclear or how we can do better on the language here. Sometimes we can be a little too close to the trees to see the forest, so if you can help give us a better perspective, we'll work to improve our messaging in the marketing. Thanks!

No, you're good! That's a very common use case!

Let's let Eshtek sort that out before we make to many assumptions. I think lots of people had that thought but may not have jumped on it. I had the same thought but was to cheap. Have you activated both licenses?

So If I am understanding this, if the second server is in a relatives house it is not their independent account but rather is is another server under the same login. So I don't think we can use the term "buddy backup" unless you are saying each server can allocate an encrypted space on the other that can't be accessed. I think that will be the terminology sticking point. I must say when I first saw the option to buy a second $99 NAS server I myself thought I could setup up a buddy backup as well at a relatives home but wasn't sure it could be used as a full independent server by that relative because they are not going to want to go down the NAS path. I am guessing a lot of people will have that same thought and if i am still being honest I think Eshtek realized that would be the reason many folks would go for that option. So, let's be clear and careful about the use of the term "buddy backup". Can it be a remote backup? Yes. You have already told me above that it can. But can it be a buddy backup? It sounds like no, not really as defined in the sales materials. Now, as for that person who bought two accounts during the original black friday sale. I can see them having a legit issue because I believe I have seen them say that is why they got the two accounts in other forum posts a while back. If this is true it should have been stated then that multiple servers on one account can't be true buddy backups. I don't really have a horse in this race because I want another server that will be my 'media available outside my home' through Plex or Jellyfin and Immich.

Buddy backup will definitely work with two licenses under the same account. You will be your own buddy 😉

I am an idiot😅 Way back, I bought two licenses because I thought I could then build a second server, install it at my parents' house that my dad could use for picture storage, and have a buddy back up to and from that second server.

So, Buddy Backup only works for different users? I bought 2 licenses a year ago to be able to do buddy backup with myself, so that's not possible? I would need to fall back to Replication Task over SSH ?

@oliver12 taking a guess, i think it would probably "work", except it would only have one account on both. So at that point it's just your backup on offsite machine, rather than a backup to a buddies machine who also happens to be offsite. If you wanted to gift this machine so that your parents could have their own, you'd need to give them your account at which point they could also access the machine you have.

Wait, so if I have two licenses under my account I can't put my second server at eg my parents home for a offsite backup and sync via BuddyBackup?

Fully acknowledge this isn't ideal but it is safe for now to take this approach. We will address updating your curation in place in the future.

Yes most definitely! We have the underpinnings for a language selector already in place, but we're deferring translation work until after 1.0.

As of today, yes, you can access your server from anywhere using deck.hexos.com. I have a discussion planned with the team to allow you to disable remote access which would be as simple as us verifying the WAN IP of the client device being used to connect to the deck and making sure it matches the server's WAN IP. When HexOS Local arrives, you will be able to even further reduce your cloud dependency, but there are some features like installing apps/VMs, configuring buddy backups, and e-mail notifications that will require a connection to our deck. Thankfully that connection is outbound from your server, which doesn't require you to open any ports on your firewall and expose the system to the wider net. We also do have plans to implement oAuth and 2FA in the future to further enhance security and options.

Absolutely. That is 100% doable.

no worries Biem, moved you to the right spot So seems like you have a fairly common use case withI he addition of game servers. The requirements for game servers do differ depending on game and the scale (like if you plan to make a sever say 100+ will join) so you may want to look up that part yourself As for the rest you should easily get by with some of the cheaper intel cpus available something like an intel i5 8400 or 8500 should be more than strong enough those intel cpus have integrated gpus so you don't have to spend extra on a graphics card and they support intel quick sync which just means they are great for plex. Make sure any motherboard you get does not have a realtek nic (network interface card), you can usually find out on the motherboard webpage or on the pcpartpicker page for the motherboard. for cases i like recommending the jonsbo n4 since its a fairly compact case that has 6 hdd bays and a relatively good value. The downside with the n4 is that it will only fit smaller sized power supplies and motherboards which may cost more than full size. for you boot drive i suggest getting a cheap and small ssd. any space left over on it after the os is installed cannot be used. I would suggest no less than 16gb of ram for you. now depending on your budget you could get a stronger cpu or more ram.

I use FeedFlow on my android phone. I see TrueNAS has some alternatives as well though I have no experience with them so that's next after the ARR series of apps.

While not a buddy backup I hope the second license can be used to build a "regular" backup NAS system. I've already got two backups on external HDD media but they are so SLOW.

Hi there, Idk if this is the right place where to post this but here i am Im new to all this but i want to build a homeserver but dont know what specs it needs. Things i want to use the homeserver for: - Running Plex for movies and series - Storing family photos - Running gameserver for friends - Running home assistant - running hexos ofcourse But my question is what specs do i need im willing to use secondhand stuff and im looking for something that i dont have to upgrade for some time except the amount of storage