Comments on: Backup for Linux, Done Right- Part 1: A Mini Melodrama http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/index.php/2009/08/07/time-drive1 The Rants and Raves of an Unsettled Mind Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:43:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Rob Oakes http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/index.php/2009/08/07/time-drive1/comment-page-1#comment-4105 Rob Oakes Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:53:49 +0000 http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/?p=1108#comment-4105 @Ryan: Thanks for pointing out the two backup solutions. I hadn't heard of either one of them and they look very, very cool. I'm particularly interested in the backuppc and will probably download and take a look at it. I might even try and build support into timedrive for it, since it appears to do much the same thing that home server does, except with open source tools and Linux. I also took a look at gibak, which looks neat, but I've never really been able to wrap my head fully around git. Re the second question, the answer is yes. If you wanted to configure Deja Dup to do the actual backing up, you could then configure Time Drive to use the same directory and restore the files. A few things to be aware of. Time Drive runs a separate duplicity script for each folder in your backup, thus, if you go to your archive directory, you will find a separate directory and set of .tar files for every folder. In contrast, Deja Dup runs a single duplicity script and just uses the --include flag to add that folder to the job. A better bet might just to be the advanced restore options and connect right to the archive, rather than trying to mess with getting the configuration options just right. But in terms of compatibility, they are both use duplicity. As a result, if you get the config options right, you can use either program to add or restore. Given the features of the two programs, in such a scenario, I would use Deja Dup for backup and Time Drive for restore. (Presently, Deja Dup doesn't even support individual file restore, just restoration of the full archive. I've been talking with Michael Terry, the lead developer, and we intend to change that in the immediate future.) I hope that's of some help. @Ryan: Thanks for pointing out the two backup solutions. I hadn’t heard of either one of them and they look very, very cool. I’m particularly interested in the backuppc and will probably download and take a look at it. I might even try and build support into timedrive for it, since it appears to do much the same thing that home server does, except with open source tools and Linux. I also took a look at gibak, which looks neat, but I’ve never really been able to wrap my head fully around git.

Re the second question, the answer is yes. If you wanted to configure Deja Dup to do the actual backing up, you could then configure Time Drive to use the same directory and restore the files. A few things to be aware of. Time Drive runs a separate duplicity script for each folder in your backup, thus, if you go to your archive directory, you will find a separate directory and set of .tar files for every folder. In contrast, Deja Dup runs a single duplicity script and just uses the –include flag to add that folder to the job.

A better bet might just to be the advanced restore options and connect right to the archive, rather than trying to mess with getting the configuration options just right. But in terms of compatibility, they are both use duplicity. As a result, if you get the config options right, you can use either program to add or restore. Given the features of the two programs, in such a scenario, I would use Deja Dup for backup and Time Drive for restore. (Presently, Deja Dup doesn’t even support individual file restore, just restoration of the full archive. I’ve been talking with Michael Terry, the lead developer, and we intend to change that in the immediate future.)

I hope that’s of some help.

]]> By: Ryan http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/index.php/2009/08/07/time-drive1/comment-page-1#comment-4103 Ryan Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:54:46 +0000 http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/?p=1108#comment-4103 On the subject of saving space on duplicate files, there's a package called backuppc that does exactly that. It's designed to run on a server and pull backups from all the other machines via rsync (or other methods), and then it hardlinks all the identical files to save space. (As opposed to each computer individually pushing backups to the server.) When backing up a bunch of Windows machines, that means that it only makes one copy of each system file, for example. There's also gibak, which is a thin command-line frontend to git that turns it into a backup suite. Git does some creative compression and hard-linking and other stuff that I don't quite understand, which makes it good for backups. As for the on-disk compatibility of Deja Dup and Time Drive, does that mean that I could configure them both to use the same backup directory and then use one for backup and the other for restoring, or something like that? On the subject of saving space on duplicate files, there’s a package called backuppc that does exactly that. It’s designed to run on a server and pull backups from all the other machines via rsync (or other methods), and then it hardlinks all the identical files to save space. (As opposed to each computer individually pushing backups to the server.) When backing up a bunch of Windows machines, that means that it only makes one copy of each system file, for example.

There’s also gibak, which is a thin command-line frontend to git that turns it into a backup suite. Git does some creative compression and hard-linking and other stuff that I don’t quite understand, which makes it good for backups.

As for the on-disk compatibility of Deja Dup and Time Drive, does that mean that I could configure them both to use the same backup directory and then use one for backup and the other for restoring, or something like that?

]]> By: Rob Oakes http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/index.php/2009/08/07/time-drive1/comment-page-1#comment-4043 Rob Oakes Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:25:03 +0000 http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/?p=1108#comment-4043 @Notize, unfortunately, it will make a backup copy for each of the files. (Though it would be really cool if it could compare file signatures and only backup changes. That is something that I will pass along to the developers of Duplicity, the backend for Time Drive as a feature idea. Because it compares signatures, it probably would only be moderately difficult to add.) To the best of my knowledge, the only major program that is capable of intelligently combining backups from multiple machines is Windows Home Server. Not even Time Machine is capable of doing that. Enterprise scale options, like Zmanda might be able to, but I've never spent too much time using them. They are just too far outside of my own needs. I do really well with file-backup and have never needed anything heavier. @Notize, unfortunately, it will make a backup copy for each of the files. (Though it would be really cool if it could compare file signatures and only backup changes. That is something that I will pass along to the developers of Duplicity, the backend for Time Drive as a feature idea. Because it compares signatures, it probably would only be moderately difficult to add.)

To the best of my knowledge, the only major program that is capable of intelligently combining backups from multiple machines is Windows Home Server. Not even Time Machine is capable of doing that. Enterprise scale options, like Zmanda might be able to, but I’ve never spent too much time using them. They are just too far outside of my own needs. I do really well with file-backup and have never needed anything heavier.

]]> By: Rob Oakes http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/index.php/2009/08/07/time-drive1/comment-page-1#comment-4042 Rob Oakes Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:20:08 +0000 http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/?p=1108#comment-4042 Hi Ryan, I came across Deja Dup after finishing most of the functionality for Time Drive (one of those bizarre ironies of life). I've been in touch with it's lead developer, Michael Terry, and we've talked about joining code-bases so that the archive browser can be ported over. Because Time Drive is written using Qt and Deja Dup written with Gtk, they will both probably continue to live and evolve (eventually sharing a common codebase where possible). I'm personally more of a KDE man (though using Gnome at the moment), while Michael is geared towards Gnome. But, Deja Dup is a wonderful program. And archives from Time Drive are compatible with archives made with Deja Dup because of the common backend, Duplicity. Hi Ryan, I came across Deja Dup after finishing most of the functionality for Time Drive (one of those bizarre ironies of life). I’ve been in touch with it’s lead developer, Michael Terry, and we’ve talked about joining code-bases so that the archive browser can be ported over.

Because Time Drive is written using Qt and Deja Dup written with Gtk, they will both probably continue to live and evolve (eventually sharing a common codebase where possible). I’m personally more of a KDE man (though using Gnome at the moment), while Michael is geared towards Gnome.

But, Deja Dup is a wonderful program. And archives from Time Drive are compatible with archives made with Deja Dup because of the common backend, Duplicity.

]]> By: notize http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/index.php/2009/08/07/time-drive1/comment-page-1#comment-4038 notize Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:01:09 +0000 http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/?p=1108#comment-4038 How does this handle duplicate files scattered on multiple computers. In our house we've got pictures and music duplicated left and right. Would this backup files that are already somewhere? I'm asking for storage space calculation .... these days storage space comes a bit cheaper than time to organize everything ... nothing wrong with my kids playing with their own media files,but if I could save on backup storage I would. Please let us know! Thanks How does this handle duplicate files scattered on multiple computers. In our house we’ve got pictures and music duplicated left and right. Would this backup files that are already somewhere? I’m asking for storage space calculation …. these days storage space comes a bit cheaper than time to organize everything … nothing wrong with my kids playing with their own media files,but if I could save on backup storage I would.

Please let us know!
Thanks

]]> By: Ryan http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/index.php/2009/08/07/time-drive1/comment-page-1#comment-4037 Ryan Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:53:29 +0000 http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/?p=1108#comment-4037 Have you looked at Deja Dup? It's another GUI solution based on Duplicity. I just found it after reading your blog, and it sounds quite similar in terms of its goals. Have you looked at Deja Dup? It’s another GUI solution based on Duplicity. I just found it after reading your blog, and it sounds quite similar in terms of its goals.

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