Re: [Bacula-users] Autochanger: yes or no?

[Roberts, B. <ben...@gs...>]

Hi Florian,

>> Is using one Device Resource in the Storage daemon enough or is there any
>> use for an autochanger in this case?
> We do the same thing as this and have a single device resource with no
> autochanger.

Both options have their merits and drawbacks, so you should assess which would be more appropriate for the workload you want to use.

Using an autochanger means:
- you have have multiple storage devices, and therefore run multiple jobs concurrently using different volumes (either in the same, or in different pools)
- you can start using new pools in future without having to create new storage devices or restart the SD
- you need to pre-create and pre-label your storage volumes (I would advocate using the scratch pool, and letting Bacula move volumes around as needed)
- if you have at least 2 storage devices, you can reserve one and always be able to run a restore job at any time, regardless of whether backups are in progress

Using a single storage device:
- you can only ever read/write to a single volume at a time
- you will have to add a new storage device and restart the SD if you ever want to add a new pool (which can be tricky to find a time if your schedule gets pretty full)
- you don't need to pre-create/pre-label volumes and Bacula can do it on demand
- you will need to set Max Pool Volumes or similar to prevent Bacula from completely filling the disk
- you might have to interrupt running jobs if you're called upon to do an emergency restore

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Ben Roberts

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