SeaweedFS + S3 Backup Stack

S3-compatible object storage with automated backup, snapshot retention, and Nginx reverse proxy. Ideal for application data, backups, logs, and media — any workload that needs durable, scalable storage without the AWS bill.

Why SeaweedFS? This stack replaces our MinIO S3 Backup Stack. MinIO Community Edition was archived upstream in February 2026 and its Docker Hub images were removed in September 2026. SeaweedFS is actively developed and serves the same S3-compatible API — your existing S3 clients keep working.

What's Included

Includes: SeaweedFS server (master + volume + filer + S3 gateway), Nginx reverse proxy, rclone backup agent

Components:

• SeaweedFS single-binary — S3-compatible API, drop-in for AWS S3, Backblaze, Wasabi
• S3 IAM credentials generated from environment variables (no default keys in configs)
• Nginx reverse proxy with TLS redirect, rate limiting, and large upload buffering (5GB+)
• Automated backup to any remote S3 using rclone sync (incremental, with per-run snapshots)
• Snapshot rotation with configurable retention
• Health checks on the master status endpoint

Deployment Modes

Mode	Use Case	Nodes
Single-node	Dev, personal use, <5 TB	1
Multi-volume servers	Small team, HA storage	1 + N volumes
Distributed cluster	Production, multi-AZ	3 master + N

The included stack ships as single-node — ready to scale to distributed when needed. SeaweedFS replicas are configured with a single flag (-filer.defaultReplicaPlacement).

Backup Strategy

Recommended backup schedule:

• Hourly: Application data and active files (incremental)
• Daily: Full bucket sync to remote S3 or Backblaze B2
• Weekly: Snapshot cleanup (handled automatically via retention)
• Monthly: Immutable off-site snapshot for compliance

The rclone sync command handles incremental sync efficiently:

rclone sync local:mybucket remote:mybucket --backup-dir remote:/snapshots/$(date +%Y%m%d)

Cost Comparison

For 10TB monthly storage with egress:

Provider	Monthly Cost
AWS S3 Standard	~$230
SeaweedFS self-hosted (4x 4TB NVMe)	~$60 (amortized hardware)
Backblaze B2	~$60

Self-hosted SeaweedFS breaks even at approximately 5TB and gets cheaper from there.

Who This Is For

Developers and ops teams who need S3-compatible storage without monthly egress bills. Ideal for backup targets, media storage, log archives, and application data that needs to stay within a private network boundary.