SuperiorOne

For media files (bad idea for databases), I’m using Kubernetes CronJobs with restic. It mounts PVC to the cron job pod and backups target directories to S3 storage.

I don’t think its rpi or network switch, unless you’ve overclocked rpi with liquid nitrogen 😅. So, I assume its TrueNas device.

If it were a significant power difference, say 20-30 watts, you could easily find the process using htop/iotop. However, 6 watt difference is a relatively small value for a device with ~25 watts of idle power . It might be a process using just 1% system resources. That’s why I would look for systemd timers, cronjobs etc. to find scheduled tasks on specific times. Another possibility is automated S.M.A.R.T. self-tests. Those tests don’t show up in htop or iotop.

UPS devices normally uses wall (input) power, and switches to battery when input voltage is out of the target thresholds. So, input.load should represent the percentage of current wall power (in VA) relative to UPS’s max rated input power (VA). If your devices uses more power, input power from wall should increase as well.

If it’s peaking in certain times, it could be due some scheduled job temporarily increase CPU frequency, or automated tasks like file system snapshot might power-up/spin drives longer than regular usage.