Linux Backup Box

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Hi all you linux gurus!

I've received a job where my client needs a strorage server running linux and he wants to use it backup data on his companies 3 Macs.

It's not a huge corporate install and was hardware was done on a budget, but I would like some advice on which distro to use for this and also the most effective and safe way of backing up the Mac's data. He wanted to use Time Machine on the Mac's for backup, but after some research, I've found it not to be the safest things these days when using a Linux server. It would be great also if somebody could recommend a backup solution for Mac that would help me in my cause.

I also stumbled across this http://lifehacker.com/362062/create-your-own-cross+platform-backup-server while doing my research. Would be great if I could hear your thoughts on this distro and if anybody has used it before.

Would appreciate any good advice!

Thanks

 

[spiderz]

http://blog.backblaze.com/2009/09/01/petabytes-on-a-budget-how-to-build-cheap-cloud-storage/

start by looking at FreeNas

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Thanks, but thats a bit of an overkill for this application as there are only 3 clients. I'm actually only looking for a software solution.

 

[kingrob]

I guess it all depends on what your client's budget is.

Really like this external storage solution from Western Digital, should be perfect for a small office network : http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=589

It's a 2TB NAS device, so just plug it in and back it up.

*Oh, and it's compatible with Apple Time Machine.....I know you said you dont like Apple Time Machine, but some of my friends are very happy with it.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

freeNAS will work fine.

Or you can try SME Server from Contribs.org

or kingrob's suggestion - less hardware, less fuss. Keep in mind that hard drives do tend to crash at inconvenient times.

 

[kingrob]

freeNAS will work fine.

Or you can try SME Server from Contribs.org

or kingrob's suggestion - less hardware, less fuss. Keep in mind that hard drives do tend to crash at inconvenient times.

You can opt for the 2TB/4TB model, which support RAID 1.

 

[Tinuva]

FreeNAS is not a backup solution. Also that project is kinda a big guess atm as development on it stopped and the author started a new project.

I would suggest any linux distribution you feel comfortable with using a either software raid or hardware raid, depending on what you have access to.

As a backup program, check out Bacula @ http://www.bacula.org/en/ it supports Windows, Linux and Mac and is free.
OS support: http://www.bacula.org/en/dev-manual/Supported_Operating_Systems.html

So you run the MAC client on the Mac pc/laptop, and on the linux storage server the storage and director daemon.

 

[RSkeens]

The above is correct, you are going to have to investigate Bacula.

+1

 

[paul5186]

Use a samba server, with 2 x 1Tb drives in raid. Then have two external drives that backup that server, one you keep in a safe, so you can rotate them?

 

[MyWorld]

First of, is the back-up proses going to be automated or manual?

Do you already have all the hardware that is needed? From what I gather this is a one man show single normal PC "server" setup.

If it is going to be automated the it is as simple as either finding a app that will work on Mac ( like mentioned Bacula seems to fit the bill) or make the Mac partition read/write and create a cron job on the server to automatically backup what is needed. This can be done with various tools on Linux and once you have decided what you need we can give further advice.

Also, how proficient are you with Linux?

It does seems that Bacula is very straight forward, just remember to leave ample time between each PC's scheduled back-up so that they do not all start their back-up at the same time killing the server.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Thanks for all the replies - really useful.

FreeNAS is not a backup solution. Also that project is kinda a big guess atm as development on it stopped and the author started a new project.

I would suggest any linux distribution you feel comfortable with using a either software raid or hardware raid, depending on what you have access to.

As a backup program, check out Bacula @ http://www.bacula.org/en/ it supports Windows, Linux and Mac and is free.
OS support: http://www.bacula.org/en/dev-manual/...g_Systems.html

So you run the MAC client on the Mac pc/laptop, and on the linux storage server the storage and director daemon.

I will definately look at this as a solution - looks like it fits the bill perfectly.

MyWorld:

First of, is the back-up proses going to be automated or manual?

I would like to create an initial full backup, and thereafter automate it to update changed/created files.

Do you already have all the hardware that is needed? From what I gather this is a one man show single normal PC "server" setup.

Hardware is in the process of being ordered, and you assume correctly - it is a basic Celeron E3200 machine, with 2 x 1.5 TB drives.

Also, how proficient are you with Linux?

Hehe, I'm not a linux genius, but I can find my way around most areas. It also does help a lot that there are a lot of resources available online and guys like you willing to give your advice. I recently set up a file and print server for a client using Ubuntu server edition, so I've no gripes using the command line.

I was also just wondering which filesystem I should use, should I stick to ext3 to be safe?

Thanks again.

 

[MyWorld]

For a server you ALWAYS use the tried and tested, so I would personally stick to ext3, solid and tested.

Go with Bacula then, it seems like it will be able to do what you need easily.

 

[avert]

i'd take the hard route out and write a little script to scp folders and then throw that in a cronjob, and then mirror /home/* onto a second harddrive on the server. But i guess that's a solution for entertainment purposes only. a little bash scripting knowledge can go a long way!

 

[Paul_S]

Take a look at rsync or rsnapshot.
rsnapshot is a wrapper/frontend that uses rsync in the background.

If MAC supports sync then you can go the pure rsync/rsnapshot route.
If MAC can export NFS or SMB shares then you can mount them on the Linux backup server and then use rsync to backup.

The reason why I recommend rsync is because:
1. It only copies the data that has changed which saves a lot of network traffic.
2. It runs over SSH which is secure
3. It has a lot of configurable options
4. It scales very well

I currently have over 20 Linux servers that are backed up every night using rsnapshot to a central backup server.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Thanks Paul_S

I will look into that, do you have any idea if mac supports this feature? They are all using OS X 10.5.4 and later.

 

[HazMan]

Tim

This might be of help to you too: http://www.egg-tech.com/mac_backup/

 

[Paul_S]

Thanks Paul_S

I will look into that, do you have any idea if mac supports this feature? They are all using OS X 10.5.4 and later.

Configuring Mac OS X for Unattended Backup Using rsync

The initial configuration may seem hard but once set up it works like a bomb.
All the Linux distros I know of have rsync packages so you won't have to compile from source on the Linux side.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

I setup the machine up today to do some testing - using Ubuntu Karmic 64 bit. Formatted the 2 x 1.5tb drives with ext3. Set up a rsync and automated the whole thing. Actually went without hiccups, this however was connecting to my Ubuntu box. I hope things go smoothly when connecting to the Macs, I'm just glad however that rsync and ssh run pretty much in the same manner with OS X, we'll just have to wait and see