I know this is outside the scope of the list, (despite someone having this on the wishlist), but I'm looking for a *nix-compatible (pref linux) hierarchical storage system.
Explanation: A HFS (*) is a virtual filesystem, similar to unionfs. Files are kept on "slow media" (tape or CD or DVD or even NFS-over-WAN, etc) and are loaded from the "slow" media into a "fast" disk cache on an as-needed basis. Files written to the system are stored on disk and then flushed through to tape periodically. One example of such a HFS is the old MS-DOS "Rombrain" setup BBS operators used to use. Backups are made in normal ways as the filesystem is transparent apart from being slower to access. Why? Tapes have few moving parts, high density and consume zero power while idling. Adding to the filesystem is simply a matter of adding more (cheap) tapes. The filesystem can be "frozen" at any time and moved to a safe (not recommended), then resumed later. A single large robot can operate as both HFS storage and backup library. Why am I asking for one? Much of what I am storing is "write once. read occasionally". We have 25Tb online now, most of which is already in this state. I've just been asked to add 20Tb to that and have been informed there's a request in to add 50Tb to the mix in about 6 months. 90% of this will be accessed "occasionally", so that's an awful lot of disks spinning (power draw, airconditioning) for no good reason, and additional expense every time the demand grows. The amount of data coming in from space probes seems to be growing a lot faster than the natural growth in disk drive sizes. With larger tape robots able to increase capacity by simply bolting on an extension, growing a HFS is fairly easy and relatively cheap. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys-and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV _______________________________________________ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
