BackupPC 1.03 released (backup to disk for WinXX/Linux using Samba)

[Craig Barratt]

BackupPC version 1.03 has been released on SourceForge, see
http://backuppc.sourceforge.net.

BackupPC a high-performance perl-based package for backing up
Linux and WinXX PCs and laptops to a server's disk.  BackupPC is
highly configurable and easy to install and maintain.  It uses
Samba's smbclient to extract files from clients, and uses Samba
on linux clients to serve up shares (no client SW needed for WinXX).

Given the ever decreasing cost of disks and raid systems, it is now
practical and cost effective to backup a large number of machines onto
a server's local disk or network storage.  This is what BackupPC does.
For some sites, this might be the complete backup solution.  For other
sites, additional permanent archives could be created by periodically
backing up the server to tape.  A variety of Open Source systems are
available for doing backup to tape, such as Amanda or afbackup.

Key features are pooling of identical files (big savings in server disk
space), compression, and handling DHCP clients (eg, laptops that are
intermittently connected to the network and whose IP addresses change).
Features are summarized below.

BackupPC is free software distributed under a GNU GPL license.

Enjoy!

Craig Barratt

BackupPC v1.03 features:

   - A clever pooling scheme minimizes disk storage and disk I/O. Identical
     files across multiple backups of the same or different PC are stored
     only once, resulting in substantial savings in disk storage and disk I/O.
   - Optional compression support further reduces disk storage. Since only
     new files (not already pooled) need to be compressed, there is only a
     modest impact on CPU load.
   - One example of disk use: backing up 95 laptops with average 3.6GB each.
     Keeping three weekly full backups, and six daily incrementals (average
     0.3GB) is around 1200GB of raw data. Because of pooling and compression,
     only 150GB is needed.
   - No client-side software is needed on WinXX machines. The standard smb
     protocol is used to extract backup data. On linux clients, the
     industry-standard Samba package is used to provide smb shares
     that are used for backup.
   - A powerful http/cgi user interface allows administrators to view log
     files, configuration, current status and allows users to initiate and
     cancel backups and browse and restore files from backups.
   - Supports mobile environments where laptops are only intermittently
     connected to the network and have dynamic IP addresses (DHCP).
   - Flexible configuration parameters allow multiple backups to be performed
     in parallel, specification of which shares to backup, which directories
     to backup or not backup, various schedules for full and incremental
     backups, schedules for email reminders to users and so on.  Configuration
     parameters can be set system-wide or also on a per-PC basis.
   - Users are sent periodic email reminders if their PC has not recently
     been backed up.  Email content, timing and policies are configurable.
   - Tested on Linux and Solaris hosts, and Linux, Win95, Win98 and
     Win2000 clients.
   - Detailed documentation.
   - Open Source hosted by SourceForge and freely available under GPL.