Tink vs BackupPC
BackupPC copies rsync/tar pools and CGI status. That is not a mechanic. Tink installs in one command, watches the Linux host, explains what is wrong, and helps you fix it.
BackupPC runs the dump. Tink answers “why is this VPS sick?”
Accidental sysadmins land on BackupPC because a pooled rsync server looks cheaper than a NAS. Then the host volume fills, nginx dies, and BackupPC_serverMesg status still looks complete — no dump match for host fill. A filling /var is a Tink warning; it is not a BackupPC job unless you scraped BackupPC_Admin and watched it.
Tink is the other job: detect the issue on the machine, say why it happened in plain English, propose the command, and run it only after you approve. Keep using BackupPC if you already run pooled dumps. Use Tink if you run Linux servers and want a mechanic.
| Feature | Tink | BackupPC |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 30 seconds (one curl | sh command) | Hours — BackupPC server, Apache CGI, /etc/backuppc/config.pl, hosts file, then a box that still has no mechanic after the last dump exits 0 |
| What you get | Working monitoring, diagnosis, and approved fixes | Pooled dumps, rsync/tar/smb transports, and a CGI. Disk fill, nginx, Postgres, and certs stay your problem until you SSH past BackupPC_serverMesg status |
| Pricing | Free (Scout) / $9 / $29 per machine per month | GPLv3 and free. You still pay the person who owns the VPS after the last host stays full |
| Hidden costs | None — fully managed | A quiet BackupPC_dump at 2am, a healthy pool that is not host fill, and a second tool to tell you the box is sick while BackupPC_Admin still looks complete |
| Monitoring approach | Agent on the server — CPU, disk, services, logs, certs, ports | Hosts, pools, and dump ages. BackupPC does not watch a quiet cert or host auth.log after the last BackupPC_dump finished |
| Configuration | None after install — heuristics and AI | config.pl, hosts, Apache CGI, rsync/tar/smb, and which BackupPC_nightly actually pages you |
| Plain-English diagnosis | Yes — AI explains root cause, impact, and fix | You read BackupPC_serverMesg status, then SSH into the host to change the Linux box BackupPC already sits on |
| Fix execution | Proposes and executes approved commands with an audit trail | systemctl restart backuppc and BackupPC_dump — BackupPC cannot free host disk, rotate a cert, or stop SSH brute-force unless you wrote that job |
| Alerting | Built-in across 8 channels | Not a BackupPC job — CGI mail plus a separate monitoring tool have to fire |
| Predictive alerts | Yes — disk fills in ~6 days, memory and CPU trends | Not a BackupPC job — a dump number does not forecast a quiet host filling up |
| SSH brute-force detection | Built-in — parses auth.log every scan | Never — BackupPC does not read host auth.log, journald, or firewall state after the last pool file landed |
| Machine offline detection | Agent presence monitoring with multi-channel alerts | Silence if backuppc dies after the last schedule — unless you built a separate uptime check |
| Public status page | Shareable URL with 90-day history | None — BackupPC_Admin is not a customer-facing status page for the Linux host |
| Weekly fleet digest | Automated Monday digest + daily brief when issues are open | None — a dump recap is not a plain-English fleet narrative |
| On-call tracking | Built-in /oncall command + incident acknowledgment | Not included — wire failed BackupPC_dump into PagerDuty or another incident tool |
| Conversation interface | Telegram, WhatsApp, web dashboard, CLI | BackupPC_Admin and SSH. No mechanic you text when /var filled and the last dump still showed full |
| Learning curve | None — works after install | Steep — config.pl, hosts, Apache CGI, pool files, rsync/tar/smb, and which failure is BackupPC vs the running host |
| Best for | Freelancers, small teams, accidental sysadmins (1-50 Linux servers) | Teams that already run BackupPC for pooled dumps, not a sick-VPS mechanic |
When BackupPC is the right choice
Keep using BackupPC when you already want that exact job:
- Pooled dumps with a BackupPC server — you need config.pl, hosts, Apache CGI, and rsync/tar/smb, not a mechanic.
- An existing backup stack — pool files, dump ages, and workstation hosts matter more than guest nginx, certs, and SSH on a quiet VPS.
- An existing lab or nested setup — BackupPC already starts, the pool already ships, and someone owns the BackupPC box.
- Hosts that only page on dump or CGI death — you already run BackupPC mail, not a sick-box SSH loop.
The real cost of “just watch BackupPC_serverMesg status”
BackupPC runs dumps and restores. A working ops loop for five Linux boxes is not:
- A healthy dump still means you SSH into the host and change the box by hand when it gets sick later
- Host fill, nginx, certs, and SSH brute-force never appear unless a separate tool scraped those signals and a rule fired
- A filling /var is a Tink disk warning on every scan — BackupPC will stay quiet until the next schedule fails
- A single VPS with a dead agent still needs a mechanic, not another dump number
For a 5-server team, Tink Mechanic at $45/month is cheaper than the engineer who keeps failed-dump notifications alive after a free BackupPC install, and every scan includes a diagnosis a quiet BackupPC_serverMesg status will not type.
No config.pl homework. No silent host. One command install.
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