Tink vs FSArchiver
FSArchiver writes a filesystem archive. That is not a mechanic. Tink installs in one command, watches the Linux host, explains what is wrong, and helps you fix it.
FSArchiver writes the .fsa. Tink answers “why is this VPS sick?”
Accidental sysadmins land on FSArchiver because a filesystem archive looks like insurance. Then the host volume fills, nginx dies, and the last fsarchiver savefs still looks complete — no restfs match for host fill. A filling /var is a Tink warning; it is not an FSArchiver job unless you scraped cron mail 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 FSArchiver if you already run filesystem archives. Use Tink if you run Linux servers and want a mechanic.
| Feature | Tink | FSArchiver |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 30 seconds (one curl | sh command) | Hours — live vs rescue media, which /dev/sdXN to archive, compression, then a host that still has no mechanic after the last fsarchiver savefs exits 0 |
| What you get | Working monitoring, diagnosis, and approved fixes | A .fsa filesystem archive and a restfs path. Disk fill, nginx, Postgres, and certs stay your problem until you SSH past the last savefs |
| Pricing | Free (Scout) / $9 / $29 per machine per month | GPL and free. You still pay the person who owns the VPS after the last .fsa file looks complete |
| Hidden costs | None — fully managed | A quiet archive that is not host fill, a second disk for the .fsa, and a second tool to tell you the box is sick while savefs still looks finished |
| Monitoring approach | Agent on the server — CPU, disk, services, logs, certs, ports | savefs, restfs, and archive files. FSArchiver does not watch a quiet cert or host auth.log after the last .fsa landed |
| Configuration | None after install — heuristics and AI | Which partitions, -z compression, -j jobs, exclude paths, and which failed savefs actually pages you |
| Plain-English diagnosis | Yes — AI explains root cause, impact, and fix | You read fsarchiver -V and the savefs log, then SSH into the host to change the Linux box FSArchiver already sits on |
| Fix execution | Proposes and executes approved commands with an audit trail | fsarchiver savefs and restfs — FSArchiver cannot free host disk, rotate a cert, or stop SSH brute-force unless you restore the whole filesystem |
| Alerting | Built-in across 8 channels | Not an FSArchiver job — cron mail from a failed savefs plus a separate monitoring tool have to fire |
| Predictive alerts | Yes — disk fills in ~6 days, memory and CPU trends | Not an FSArchiver job — a .fsa date does not forecast a quiet host filling up |
| SSH brute-force detection | Built-in — parses auth.log every scan | Never — FSArchiver does not read host auth.log, journald, or firewall state after the last archive landed |
| Machine offline detection | Agent presence monitoring with multi-channel alerts | Silence if the host dies after the last fsarchiver savefs — unless you built a separate uptime check |
| Public status page | Shareable URL with 90-day history | None — FSArchiver has no customer-facing status page for the Linux host |
| Weekly fleet digest | Automated Monday digest + daily brief when issues are open | None — a .fsa recap is not a plain-English fleet narrative |
| On-call tracking | Built-in /oncall command + incident acknowledgment | Not included — wire failed savefs into PagerDuty or another incident tool |
| Conversation interface | Telegram, WhatsApp, web dashboard, CLI | fsarchiver archinfo and SSH. No mechanic you text when /var filled and the last .fsa still showed finished |
| Learning curve | None — works after install | Steep — live vs offline savefs, restfs to a different-size partition, compression, and which failure is the archive vs the running host |
| Best for | Freelancers, small teams, accidental sysadmins (1-50 Linux servers) | Teams that already run FSArchiver for filesystem archives, not a sick-VPS mechanic |
When FSArchiver is the right choice
Keep using FSArchiver when you already want that exact job:
- Filesystem-level backup — you need fsarchiver savefs, restfs, and a .fsa you can restore to a different-size partition, not a mechanic.
- An existing archive stack — savefs jobs, compression flags, and restore from an archive matter more than guest nginx, certs, and SSH on a quiet VPS.
- An existing lab or nested setup — FSArchiver already runs, the .fsa already exists, and someone owns the backup disk.
- Hosts that only page on archive or cron death — you already run failed-savefs cron mail, not a sick-box SSH loop.
The real cost of “just watch the savefs log”
FSArchiver writes a filesystem archive. A working ops loop for five Linux boxes is not:
- A healthy .fsa 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 — FSArchiver will stay quiet until the next savefs fails
- A single VPS with a dead agent still needs a mechanic, not another filesystem archive
For a 5-server team, Tink Mechanic at $45/month is cheaper than the engineer who keeps failed-cron notifications alive after a green fsarchiver savefs, and every scan includes a diagnosis a quiet .fsa list will not type.
No FSArchiver savefs homework. No silent host. One command install.
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