Currently ZFS replication and rsync with a ZFS snap as source are the classic methods for ZFS backup/restore.
The main alternative beside a local replication to preserve ACL is more and more S3 object storage with S3 based backup tools like restic because
- access performance is quite the same with a 10 TB and a 10 PB storage.
- any file is a link, accessible via authenticated https url
- S3 server can be installed in a basic single node/ single disk mode for a normal backup/restore
- S3 server can run as a cluster in x node/ y disk mode. Up from x=4, such a cluster offers high availability
(a node can fail, basically in a very simplified view something like a raid over nodes
with 4 nodes like Raid-Z1, 5 nodes like Z2 and 6 nodes like Z3)
with a load balancer, S3 remains accessible for clients under original ip when any node fails
without a load balancer, you can access another node with its ip
- S3 servers can include Site Replication, basically like a async mirror setup of two S3 servers
S3 object storage is available from Amazon AWS. As the S3 api is well documented, S3 api based storage is the standard for Cloud based backup/restore, not only from Amazon but from many Cloud or ISP providers at low costs. Many of them used the S3 compatible MinIO in the past as well as many NAS systems.
MinIO as an OpenSource S3 server is no longer an option, so we need an alternative. Most promising is RustFS, intended to be a 1:1 direct replacement of MinIO. Current state of RustFS is a 1.0.0 beta for first tests, A stable is anounced in summer 2026 (not finally confirmed). RustFS is based on Rust so it can be built on nearly any OS. Prebuild binaries are available for Linux, OSX and Windows at Releases · rustfs/rustfs (click on release for downloads).
On other systems you must build yourself. This can be tricky due to some dependencies. On problems ask AI (I used Claude) for help. To build RustFS on OmniOS, see (with a documented shell script to build) Topicbox
The main alternative beside a local replication to preserve ACL is more and more S3 object storage with S3 based backup tools like restic because
- access performance is quite the same with a 10 TB and a 10 PB storage.
- any file is a link, accessible via authenticated https url
- S3 server can be installed in a basic single node/ single disk mode for a normal backup/restore
- S3 server can run as a cluster in x node/ y disk mode. Up from x=4, such a cluster offers high availability
(a node can fail, basically in a very simplified view something like a raid over nodes
with 4 nodes like Raid-Z1, 5 nodes like Z2 and 6 nodes like Z3)
with a load balancer, S3 remains accessible for clients under original ip when any node fails
without a load balancer, you can access another node with its ip
- S3 servers can include Site Replication, basically like a async mirror setup of two S3 servers
S3 object storage is available from Amazon AWS. As the S3 api is well documented, S3 api based storage is the standard for Cloud based backup/restore, not only from Amazon but from many Cloud or ISP providers at low costs. Many of them used the S3 compatible MinIO in the past as well as many NAS systems.
MinIO as an OpenSource S3 server is no longer an option, so we need an alternative. Most promising is RustFS, intended to be a 1:1 direct replacement of MinIO. Current state of RustFS is a 1.0.0 beta for first tests, A stable is anounced in summer 2026 (not finally confirmed). RustFS is based on Rust so it can be built on nearly any OS. Prebuild binaries are available for Linux, OSX and Windows at Releases · rustfs/rustfs (click on release for downloads).
On other systems you must build yourself. This can be tricky due to some dependencies. On problems ask AI (I used Claude) for help. To build RustFS on OmniOS, see (with a documented shell script to build) Topicbox
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