Re: [Hampshire] Linux tape backup software

James Courtier-Dutton wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Can I please have a list of backup software people use on Linux.
> I want to have a dedicated Linux backup server that talks to the tape drive.
> Then, a number of agents on various Linux and Windows machines that
> send the data to be backed up to the backup server.
>
> If anyone knows any pros or cons regarding any of them, that would
> also be useful.
> We could maybe then add the results to the hantslug wiki.
>
> Thank you
>
> James
>

I decided to go the simplest route since end-users wouldn't need access
to the software. I use rsnapshot (Provides generational backups) to
backup local and remote servers. I have had problems with rsnapshot
quitting when a WAN link goes down while backing-up a remote host (even
if there are local hosts remaining in the backup list). Therefore I now
rsync each host to my backup server and then do the rsnapshot there.

To retrieve files you just navigate a directory structure as normal,
with each generation of files being in it's own directory. This has
proved quite useful since I can search the backup contents with all the
usual Linux tools. Rsnapshot uses hard links to save space where files
haven't changed.

If I wanted to give end-users access then I would probably find a way to
share the directories using Samba, although ensuring permissions were
correct would be non-trivial. A web interface might be more
appropriate, but would require some effort to ensure security is maintained.

Simon