Google Drive Backup Part 2

This is a continuation of the first part, where we built a basic backup solution using local storage. Now, let’s elevate our approach by integrating another cloud provider and adding robust encryption.

Dropbox: Setting Up an Additional Cloud Provider

To obtain an access token, you’ll need to configure rclone locally (because of web browser). Here’s how I did it using Docker:

docker run --rm -it \
    -v ./config:/config/rclone \
    -v ./data:/data \
    --net=host \
    rclone/rclone authorize "dropbox"

After you’ve obtained the token, simply add new sections to your rclone.conf:

[dropbox]
type = dropbox
token = {"access_token":"<...>"}  # whole obtained string

[dropbox-crypt]
type = crypt
remote = dropbox:
filename_encryption = obfuscate
directory_name_encryption = false
password = <PASSWORD>

Important: Remember to replace <PASSWORD> with a strong, secure password, rclone helps with it.

rclone: Executing the Encrypted Backup

Now, let’s use our encrypted Dropbox remote to back up our Google Drive data:

docker run --rm -it \
    -v ./config:/config/rclone \
    -v ./data:/data\
    rclone/rclone --drive-shared-with-me \
    copy google-drive:<SHARED FOLDER> dropbox-crypt:

rclone: Recovering the Encrypted Backup

To restore your encrypted backup, simply reverse the source and destination in your rclone copy command:

docker run --rm -it \
    -v ./config:/config/rclone \
    -v ./data:/data \
    rclone/rclone --drive-shared-with-me \
    copy dropbox-crypt: google-drive:<SHARED FOLDER>

This will decrypt and copy your files back to your Google Drive.

Note: Only properly encrypted files will be recovered.

Conclusion

By adding Dropbox as a secondary backup destination and encrypting our data, we’ve significantly improved the security and redundancy of our Google Drive backup solution. This approach provides an extra layer of protection against data loss or unauthorized access. While this setup is more secure than our initial local storage-based solution, remember that the strength of your encryption hinges on the security of your password. Always use strong, unique passwords and store them securely.

Additionally, consider implementing regular backup testing to ensure your recovery process works as expected. Future enhancements could include automated health checks, notifications, and more sophisticated encryption strategies.