I'm experimenting with iSCSI right now, and am looking for ways to best back iSCSI volumes up, and any experiences from others.
I'm using an OpenSUSE 11.1 server as iSCSI target (i.e., iSCSI server). Each iSCSI volume is represented by an image file. The underlying file system uses LVM. The iSCSI volumes will be mounted by a mix of Windows and Linux machines, so some will have NTFS and some will have ext3 volumes. Here is what I'm thinking to do to actually perform the backup, and would like to hear thoughts and pitfalls that I may have overlooked. It just seems too simple - and Googling for it, I have not seen anybody else mention this scheme to perform backups on iSCSI volumes. - Take an LVM snapshot of the whole file system, all iSCSI volumes at once. - Loopback-mount each partition from each of the image files. - Back up the files from this loopback image. During some test runs, this scheme seems to be working reasonably well. Am I overlooking something that would trip me up later? Two obvious issues are that, first, this will not be a clean backup, since I'm not shutting down the iSCSI initiators. Secondly, since there are multiple file systems involved, I have to set OneFS=no. Thanks! -- Kevin Keane Owner The NetTech Find the Uncommon: Expert Solutions for a Network You Never Have to Think About Office: 866-642-7116 http://www.4nettech.com This e-mail and attachments, if any, may contain confidential and/or proprietary information. Please be advised that the unauthorized use or disclosure of the information is strictly prohibited. The information herein is intended only for use by the intended recipient(s) named above. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and permanently delete the e-mail and any copies, printouts or attachments thereof. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Come build with us! The BlackBerry® Developer Conference in SF, CA is the only developer event you need to attend this year. Jumpstart your developing skills, take BlackBerry mobile applications to market and stay ahead of the curve. Join us from November 9-12, 2009. Register now! http://p.sf.net/sfu/devconf _______________________________________________ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users