Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2016 12:19:19 +0700 From: Victor Sudakov <vas@mpeks.tomsk.su> To: Chuck Swiger <cswiger@mac.com> Cc: FreeBSD - <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: zfs send/receive as dump/restore alternative Message-ID: <20161115051918.GA83804@admin.sibptus.transneft.ru> In-Reply-To: <022AE8EF-815D-45D1-AEC8-0165BE7683CD@mac.com> References: <20161114054657.GA66229@admin.sibptus.transneft.ru> <20161114103657.63c03ab1d039c59db18fad90@sohara.org> <20161115001751.GA83033@admin.sibptus.transneft.ru> <022AE8EF-815D-45D1-AEC8-0165BE7683CD@mac.com>
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Chuck Swiger wrote: > >>> > >>> I now run a couple of systems fully on zfs, and use e.g. > >>> "zfs send -Rv zroot@2016-10-01 > /mnt1/2016-09-25.zfs" > >>> for a full system backup to a remote file server. > >>> > >>> With restore(8), I could restore any separate filesystem or even a single > >>> file/directory from the dump, even interactively. > >> > >> As others have indicated the zfs stream is not designed as an > >> archive format but rather for efficient filesystem replication. > > > > BTW if anyone has experience with enterprise backup software for ZFS > > (e.g. for Solaris), how does it handle the task of restoring > > individual files? > > > > Oracle says "consider an enterprise backup solution... if you need > > per-file restoration": > > https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E18752_01/html/819-5461/gbchx.html <https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E18752_01/html/819-5461/gbchx.html> > > The Sun E450 and E4500s I used to deal with had Legato NetWorker as their > "enterprise backup solution", which I think is now owned by EMC / Dell. > > It was somewhat smarter than doing a Unix filesystem level dump/restore. > In particular, it understood a bunch of common filetypes and implemented > delta archiving for mbox files and the like rather than having to re-archive > entire copies of changed files. > So it probably worked on the file level like tar/cpio or Apple's Time Machine. It's good for restoring user files, but what would Legato do to restore a system from scratch in the event of a crash? I would never risk using tar or any other file level archiver to restore/clone a complete FreeBSD system for fear of omitting some filesystem features (hardlinks, EAs etc). Would you? PS I remember our Windows admins working with Symantec Backup. For a system recovery after a catastropic crash, it required a Windows bootable installation CD with the exact version of Windows being restored. -- Victor Sudakov, VAS4-RIPE, VAS47-RIPN sip:sudakov@sibptus.tomsk.ru
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