[AccessD] Linux file server backup

Hi John

No, we are testing it currently to find a reliable and cheap alternative for off-site backup.

The purpose is two-fold. First to create a file backup, not a system backup; then to allow users quick and self-serviced read-only access to an on-line 24 hour old archive. Off-line backup should go to either traditional tape or a rotating set of external USB/Firewire harddrives.

The system will have some limitations. User rights granted on a system with sophisticated access control like NetWare will be lost, and databases and mail servers can probably only be backed up from db dumps. But the main purpose is to backup artwork, images, documents and similar typically stored in discrete closed files. As such, restore will be a simple copy back of the stored files. 

We are looking for issues caused by "foreign" (non-US ASCII) characters in folder and file names when transferred between Windows and Linux systems.

/gustav


>>> jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com 18-01-2007 16:08 >>>
Gustav,

Do you use this?  Can you comment on actual performance, speed and usage?
Does the system maintain a bunch of file fragments that it reconstructs in
the event a restore is needed?  Or does it magically "fix up" the target
backup file so that it is a single file that can then be transferred back if
needed?

Have you ever tested the restore?

John W. Colby
Colby Consulting
www.ColbyConsulting.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com 
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Gustav Brock
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 9:45 AM
To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com 
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Linux file server backup

Hi all

For those interested in Rsync for Windows, check out DeltaCopy (free):

http://www.aboutmyip.com/AboutMyXApp/DeltaCopy.jsp 

/gustav

>>> Gustav at cactus.dk 18-01-2007 09:37 >>>
Hi Jim

Are you talking about a Linux file server with "built-in" backup service or
is this a separate box you set up for backing up an existing file server?
Does Ubuntu have some special tools for easy setup of RAID arrays that other
distributions miss? 

It sounds like the first, but then you only have a backup of the disks -
leaving a critical single point of failure: the controller.
While some say "controllers don't fail", they do, though rarely. We have
seen two.

We are currently testing a setup where we use Rsync for backup. It's very
basic but it allows backup to remote servers. Probably not a solution for
TB-sized backup but most clients are well below this.

/gustav

>>> accessd at shaw.ca 17-01-2007 23:24 >>>
Well John; 

The RAID drives are mostly duplication... just add a couple or 320GB, single
partition drives ($200.00) and you could have a mirrored backup. Fast,
reliable and (in context) cheap... who says you can't have it all

I have done this using an Ubuntu Linux. It uses a real old box (1.5 years
old with four older small 100GB drives), the install was easier than
Windows, (and when I say it is easy it really is. The only prompts that
require entry are how much space to allocate for the partition(s) and an
admin password.), it took only 15 minutes to connect to the network (which
has always been the biggest pain when managing mix systems). The resultant
partition created was across the all the drives making 400GBs of space. It
is real cheap and fast. 

I have been selling this backup concept to clients who want a reliable cheap
backup and have made a few sales. Even one government office is seriously
planning on contracting my services.

Jim