Archive to tape, from network drive

[kapsel]

Hi,

We are currently facing this problem:
Like everybody else, we're using tons and tons of space on i.e. R3D and DPX files, and we need to archive these files for good, and maybe pull them out from our basement in a few years.

Recently, we bought a SAS based LTO4 drive (HP) and software for this, Symantec BackupExec. I plugged the SAS card in the machine, everything works fine - except, obviously, it won't backup from network shares unless there's an "Remote BackupExec Agent" running on the machine that I want to take a backup of.

Now, for a number of reasons, I can't get the BackupExec Linux agent running on our fileserver. We're using a different distribution than Symantec recommends, blah blah..

So - we can't archive data from our primary file server, that's a problem.

I suggested that we added a few TB's to the machine that does the backup, and use that as a temporary storage where people move over the projects that has to be archived, and then move it to tape from there. Kind of an awkward workflow, but it would solve the problem.

Any other suggestions on how to solve this, by using other software for example? I'm open to anything, I just want this solved.

Key features required:
- Possible to archive data from our main fileserver (over SMB or NFS)
- Easy to use interface (a "drag'n'drop-feel" to it :-)

We do not want to use this for "backup" - but for ARCHIVING data, permanently.

Please ask if you have further questions regarding our setup.

Kind regards,
Kasper

[Tim Jones]

Not trying to come off like an ad here, but if you can move your SAS card and Drive over to your Linux server, our BRU Server software solution will backup both the Windows and Linux systems. I know that it's an extra cost over what you've already spent, but BRU Server will happily, quickly, and verifiably provide platform-independent, archive-quality support for both your Linux and Windows (and Mac OS X, FreeBSD, Solaris, A/IX, HP-UX, IRIX, and other Unix) platforms. [edit] Also, we support all distributions and versions of Linux back to the old GLIBC 2.1-based distros as clients. If needed, we also have older LIBC5 support (back to 1995 or so).

Plus, I don't know what type of performance you're seeing with BackupExec, but we regularly see 100MB/sec or more using SAS LTO-4 drives.

Tim

[kapsel]

Not trying to come off like an ad here, but if you can move your SAS card and Drive over to your Linux server, our BRU Server software solution will backup both the Windows and Linux systems. I know that it's an extra cost over what you've already spent, but BRU Server will happily, quickly, and verifiably provide platform-independent, archive-quality support for both your Linux and Windows (and Mac OS X, FreeBSD, Solaris, A/IX, HP-UX, IRIX, and other Unix) platforms. [edit] Also, we support all distributions and versions of Linux back to the old GLIBC 2.1-based distros as clients. If needed, we also have older LIBC5 support (back to 1995 or so).

Plus, I don't know what type of performance you're seeing with BackupExec, but we regularly see 100MB/sec or more using SAS LTO-4 drives.

Tim

Hi Tim!

BRU seems interesting. It's funny, a few days ago, I had never heard about BRU, then you mention it, and today someone mentions it on a danish BSD mailing-list.

I tried NovaNET some years ago - it was the most ugly and non-intuitive GUI that I've ever worked with. I was worried screwing something up by clicking the wrong place. BackupExec seems better, more userfriendly and more well documented.

BRU seems like a nice piece of software. I like that it's cross-platform and the fact that it supports pretty much all OS'es, including my OS of choice (FreeBSD). Do you support the most recent versions of FreeBSD?

Do you have any examples of people using this like we are going to use it? I mean, not for "backing up a fileserver daily", but for archiving and putting the tapes away for years. I'm very interested in the program, and I'll get back to you. Can I PM you?

Thanks,

Kasper

[Tim Jones]

Hi Kasper,

One of BRU's main strength's is our tape format. Most backup companies write "backup" software. BRU was developed as "restore" software and all of the underpinnings are defined strictly from that perspective. It's easy to throw a bunch of bits at a tape device - the secret is making sure they got there properly so that they can be restored.

Archival quality is what we do ALWAYS - regardless of whether it's a simple incremental backup that will be overwritten in a week of your Documents folder, or something you want to keep on the shelf for 100 years.

As to the BSD's, we support Free, Net, and Open (have since 1996) and we try to keep up with the latest versions. There is a certain 3-letter US law enforcement agency that uses BRU with FreeBSD to allow them to raw-copy suspect data disks for forensic work. Because BRU will allow you to copy the raw data, regardless of filesystem format, they can create 100% accurate copies to work from without the need to possibly compromise the original disk.

[kapsel]

Hi,

Sounds great. I see that the server only works on limited OS'es (Linux, OS X, etc., no FreeBSD), do you think it would be possible to run the server in a VMware enviroment? Then I could install it on a Linux running in a VMware workstation on a Windows server that we have. But would this even work with the SCSI controller, and wouldnt it give a huge I/O bottleneck?

Our primary fileserver is a 1U machine, where both PCIe sockets are used, and we're currently not investing in new servers, at least not just for testing software.

Kind regards,
Kasper