I was reading InfoWorld today and came across a couple of ideas that would be really cool to see implemented for Bacula. One is server/architecture side, and the other is more client side.
1. Backup up data as it changes. Microsoft's Data Protection Manager does this. This would be really great for things such as file and mail servers, although probably not as great for database servers. There are ways to be notified when files change, at least on Linux. I think the kernel has notification ability, and there was a program used by KDE for a while called FAM (file alteration monitor) which would probably show us how it's done. I was thinking this could be implemented as an "open ended" job. Whenever a file changed, the fd would send it to the server, and it would be spooled on the server. Then when a certain size or time was reached, it would all be written to the volume. If we are spooling, I don't think it would take to much engineering to modify the sd to be able to take the same file more than once, but only use the latest version. 2. Browser based recovery Veritas is currently beta-testing this. I know there is the wxWindows client, but even that has a ways to go as far as userfriendliness goes. Obviously, there have to be permissions in place, such as a console config for the password to connect to the director with a restricted console. Also, in a locked-down environment a sys admin might not want a user to be able to restore any file on the system...so a proper system may require more introspection into ownership and permissions than Bacula currently is (or even should be) capable of. But it would be cool for a user to go to backupserver.company.com, select the file they need from a tree, and click "restore." Just a couple of ideas, meant to spark conversation (and, knowing this list, a little debate I'm sure). Think about them, roll them around, and let us know what you think. j----- k----- -- Joshua Kugler CDE System Administrator http://distance.uaf.edu/ ------------------------------------------------------- SF.Net email is Sponsored by the Better Software Conference & EXPO September 19-22, 2005 * San Francisco, CA * Development Lifecycle Practices Agile & Plan-Driven Development * Managing Projects & Teams * Testing & QA Security * Process Improvement & Measurement * http://www.sqe.com/bsce5sf _______________________________________________ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
