Re: [flexbackup-help] What a shame flexbackup is *almost* there - but I have to reject it

[<fle...@wo...>]

Hi

I didn't mean to be rude either,=20

it's just that having a backupsystem that really works like it "should be"=
=20
just doesn't exist currently (to my knowledge).

=46or you're example, (a.conf, b.conf) you need some filesystem support to =
be=20
able to replicate your changes to another system/backup.

Currently there's no method/sw that I know of that is supporting=20
windows/unix/linux and is in common practise=20
(otherwise it's difficult to use in an enterprise environment due to the sh=
ere=20
amount of servers and different OS's).

What you maybe are searching maybe FAM (File Alteration Monitor)?!?=20
http://oss.sgi.com/projects/fam/faq.html

And use of a FAM mirror
http://www.linuxfocus.org/common/src/article199/fam_mirror

Unless you set up something like that, you're not getting any solution to y=
our=20
a.conf/b.conf problem, the "old" methods" of full/incremental/differential=
=20
backups just doesn't provide that functionality. Also isn't a tape backup=20
system flexible enough, or fast enough to support that.

> I will not trust my system+data to such a backup-system. Are *you*
> comfortable with that? What is the down side of being able to restore
> reliably?
Rather too much than too little data protection is what keeps an enterprise=
=20
datacenter running...

> You are right, I don't know "EMC Networker, Veritas Netbackup, HP Data
> Protector", but I'm willing to bet they can restore a directory
> containing *exactly* b.conf. (Am I right?)
They can, if you really have an full backup just before the crash/logical=20
accident happens. For incrementals, it's just to restore full+incrementals=
=20
and get all those a.conf's as well ;-(

=2D-Robert

On Fri 4 August 2006 09:50, Peter Valdemar M=F8rch wrote:
> flexbackup-at-worreby.ch |Lists| wrote:
>   > 1. Have you the slightest idea how it's done in the reality?
> >
> >     That's standard procedure to restore full backup plus all
> >     incrementals you have, if you invented some other schema,
> >     please let me know
> >     (at work we're currently backing up between 15-20 TB / night)
>
> and
>
>  > 2. What's worse? Dataloss or too much data!!!
>
> Let us first agree that data loss is totally unacceptable.
> I'm not arguing that data loss is a good thing. (Am i? Where?)
>
> But for me, "too much data" is *ALSO* unacceptable, because it does not
> represent reality. Let me illustrate with a scenario:
>
> * I start with a directory e.g. under Apache's configuration that
>    has a single file a.conf
> * I make a full backup.
> * rm a.conf
> * Add a file b.conf
> * (Notice that at no point in time was there ever more
>    than one file in the directory)
> * I make an incremental backup.
> * Hard disk crash
> * Restore full backup
> * Restore incremental backup
>
> Result with current flexbackup:
>
> A directory containing both a.conf AND b.conf.
>
> Wouldn't you rather end up with a directory containing *exactly* b.conf
> - the exact contents of the directory when the incremental backup was mad=
e?
>
> Ok, so in a directory where there is supposed to be 1 single file you
> may be able to remember yourself to delete a.conf (because it is *not*
> supposed to be there). Lets just hope I slept well and didn't remove
> b.conf instead by accident because I was tired... ;)
>
> But with "between 15-20 TB" of data as you put it? Who can remember
> which of the gazillion files to delete?
>
> No, I don't want that to be a guessing game.
>
> In some (most?) cases, "too much data" is just annoying - not really
> catastrophic. But in some cases (e.g. conf.d, cron.d, *.d directories,
> or a file containing sensitive data that was deleted) this *is*
> catastrophic. I could end up with a system that won't boot or misbehaves
> or is dangerous after a full+incremental restore.
>
> I will not trust my system+data to such a backup-system. Are *you*
> comfortable with that? What is the down side of being able to restore
> reliably?
>
> You are right, I don't know "EMC Networker, Veritas Netbackup, HP Data
> Protector", but I'm willing to bet they can restore a directory
> containing *exactly* b.conf. (Am I right?)
>
> Peter

=2D-=20
=2D-Robert

Robert Worreby
Birkenweg 82
CH-3123 Belp
http://counter.li.org