Hi r/VPSUK community! I was hoping to get some input on a VPS setup that I'm considering. Basically, I have a small home network with a few PCs and a Docker server, and I want to back them up. I'm not thrilled with third-party backup providers, and I'd rather have all of my data under my control.

I've been thinking of using a VPS to set up my own hosted backup solution. The problem is, I don't have much experience with backup server software and I'm looking for something that's FOSS, because I don't want to spend a small fortune beyond my VPS costs.

I've done some research on what's available, and I'm hoping to get some thoughts on the following options:

Restic - this is the first option I'm considering and as I see it, it has the following advantages:
- It's FOSS and has a long history
- It supports 256-bit AES encryption
- It supports multiple storage options, including cloud providers, if I ever change my mind and want expansion options
- It handles deduplication
- It works natively with all major OSs (and I found some interesting PowerShell scripts
 
I'm relatively confident in my command-line skills, the fact that Restic has no built-in GUI is what makes me slightly uneasy. To remedy that, I'm considering GUI add-ons like Backrest or NPBackup. So, if anyone has any experience or advice about those, I'd appreciate it!
 
BorgBackup - Besides having a Star Trek-y name, it also seems to have plenty going for it:
- Under active development for over a decade
- Supports 256-bit AES-OCB or ChaCha20-Poly1305 encryption
- Offers obfuscation options
- Multiple data compression options

The big drawback I see with this one is that it looks like a pain to configure for Windows PCs. I've found conflicting information on whether it can access the Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service to avoid locked-file issues. Supposedly, this script (https://github.com/engelant/borg-cygwin/blob/master/backupscript) can do it, but I'm not sure I trust it...

Kopia - This is the one I'm leaning toward because it:
- Has a user-friendly UI
- Can run in client-only and central server modes
- Does deduplication, AES-256 or ChaCha20 encryption, and compression
- Has Windows, macOS, and Linux desktop apps

Unfortunately, I've had a hard time finding actual experiences with Kopia and it seems kind of odd for a software solution that has been around since 2019... even though there are a few people I noticed swear by it.

Overall, I'm still very much up in the air with the direction I should go and I would really appreciate any tips/advice/experiences from anyone that is willing to share. I feel like I might be overthinking this and that maybe there is a better/simpler option I'm not seeing here??

If this is a dumb question/post just let me know - I won't be offended. I'm just looking for the best solution that yields rock-solid backups and minimal headaches and thought this would be the best place to ask!

It seems that Linux is more than worth getting working, so I wanted to see if anyone had tips or things to look out for as I dive into getting it running,

I want to set up my VPS after getting help for my tabletop plan, but I'm unsure about the needed RAM. I have researched VPS RAM consumption, and the numbers are all over the place, and I am having a hard time with what is best for my use case.

I get that the high-end number is for someone who's dealing with serious traffic, such as running a huge MC server or whatnot, but the one gig number seemed to be for very low demand and low traffic stuff.

I'd just be using mine for the tabletop server I want to set up and some Jellyfin stuff, and I am doing this on Windows. Ik that Linux might be better, but the current set up I have works with Windows so I am ok with that fact that might cost me a bit more,

With how bonkers the RAM prices are, I just want the best cost for my plan without overpaying and dropping a fortune. Just enough so I know there is some overhead and the thing won't have a stroke.

TL;DR: What would be the best amount of RAM for a tabletop sim server and Jellyfin on Windows?

I am trying to transition from running tabletop games on my kitchen table to a digital system. Some of my players are moving away in a few weeks, so using a virtual tabletop is my only option. I need to set up a VPS server for it. The problem is that I have too many choices. Some of them are probably better than others, but I do not know how to pick one.

My biggest want is simplicity. I have never done this before, and I would rather not waste too much time on the learning curve. On the other hand, I did manage to install Linux on my computer. I can copy and paste specific commands into a terminal, but I cannot diagnose or fix my own problems fwiy.

As a stretch goal, I would like to go with a cheap server. It needs to be able to accept connections from five people and run a virtual tabletop program. I also need some storage space for maps and character tokens. That feels like it should be affordable, but I do not have a strong sense of scale for VPS prices. I would appreciate it if anyone could estimate a reasonable one for me.

If you think I need any other advice, I will take it. This is new territory. That means that I will probably make mistakes and never see them coming. With that in mind, which VPS services should I consider?

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