diff --git a/homelab/sys-backup/README.md b/homelab/sys-backup/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..598b278
--- /dev/null
+++ b/homelab/sys-backup/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This one backs up the
+[Alpine Local Backup](https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Alpine_local_backup)
+to my big storage array.
+
+My system runs from a RAM disk,
+which means whenever it reboots,
+it loses any changes I've made.
+Alpine Local Backup is a mechanism for stashing these changes away to persistent storage.
+
+The backups Alpine makes are compressed tarballs.
+`tar xzf backup.tar.gz` will restore everything it's saved.