DISCREMENTAL (hard disk based incremental backups)
This program (set of scripts) is yet another rsync based backup
solution. It uses rsync with the --link-dest option to create
hard links to files that have not changed rather than creating another
copy of the same file. Using this technique, each snapshot is a full
backup even though the backup process used is incremental (backing up
only the files that changed since the last backup). The snapshots of
files are arranged by date and time.
See the README file for more detailed information.
Status
Almost complete. The 0.2 version fully passes the current tests and will be
put into production soon. The expiration scripts (expirebox, expirevault) are
the only things not implemented. More tests will be added as I figure out what and how to test.
IDEAL BACKUP SOLUTION
- + only backs up changed files
- + can be tested
- + is easily maintainabile (scripted rather than compiled)
- + uses minimal hard disk space
- + has centralized configuration
- + requires minimal configuration on the client
- + using 'out of the box' systems
- + no extra software needed on client (uses sshd, ssh dsa keys, and/or rsyncd)
- + allows encrypted backups
- + allows files from the backup server to be backed up
- + to itself
- + to other systems (secondary) efficiently
- + allows for multiple sets of backups from different sources
- + allows efficient selective backups
- + user does not always want to back up the entire filesystem/system
- + allows backing up entire system
- + allows excluding of files and directories
- + allows backups to cross filesystems or not based on user configuration
- + allows for different options and settings for each set of backups
- + allows a backup to be run on demand
- + allows backups at different times without creating yet another subsystem for scheduling (in short--uses cron)
- - expires backups automatically based on admin configuration
- + registers banks/vaults with some central config
- + notifies admin when backup does not work
- + prevents a new backup when old one is still running on same data
- + indexes files for fast searching
- + can report the size of an archive or subset of an archive on demand
- - allows users to retrieve files
- - requires knowing which users have access to which files
- - requires authentication
The plus (+) entries are completed. The minus (-) entries are not finished yet.
OTHER RSYNC BASED SOLUTIONS are listed here.
LICENSE
GPL version 2