On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 9:55 AM, Jeffrey J. Kosowsky
<backu...@kosowsky.org>wrote:
> Gerry George wrote at about 16:38:47 -0400 on Thursday, May 17, 2012:
> > Actually this coincides with an idea I had for using BackupPC for use
> as a
> > backup service. It would have to operate differently to the standard
> > configuration, though. The system I envisioned was as follows:
> >
> > - rather than the BackupPC Server polling clients, the clients would
> be
> > responsible for initiating the connection to the BackupPC server.
> > - The BackupPC server would need to run Rsyncd in order to listen for
> > connections and expose the backup store location to the client,
> based on
> > the authentication and other defined criteria (alloted space,
> compression,
> > encryption, authorization)
> > - the clients would run rsync (or some other process) which will send
> > the data across to the BackupPC server, over SSH (for example),
> which would
> > utilize encryption for the SSH path.
> > - Optionally, the data can (possibly) be encrypted BY THE CLIENT, and
> > sent across as raw bits to be stored on the Rsync store. This would
> mean
> > that, as was suggested by John's boss, the server does not have
> access to
> > the unencrypted data, as the client could choose their own password
> which
> > the server/service provider would not have. This would mean, though
> that
> > data recovery from failed disks would be a royal pain
> >
> > Issues:
> >
> > - Client access to the data - the web interface would become much
> more
> > complex, as it would now need to be accessed over a WAN or Internet
> in
> > order to check or manipulate clients backups and restores.
> > - Client would now need to keep "backup state" information
> > - WAN link becomes issue - Internet connection speeds will determine
> > backup duration.
> > - Backing up of clients may be limited to the use of Rsync and SSH.
> >
> >
> > Other Considerations:
> >
> > - Client can optionally have a "staging server" which offers a web
> > interface for local "consumption, interacts directly with the backup
> server
> > (as a sort of gateway), keeps backup state and status, and stores
> commonly
> > accessed info (backup details, file lists, etc), and would be
> responsible
> > for requesting files for restore from the backup server. This could
> aid
> > with system security, as the Backup Service will have less
> interfaces to
> > expose to the public.
> > - Secure encrypted communications can then happen between staging
> server
> > and BackupPC server(s), with on-disk encryption, if needed, being
> done by
> > the staging server before shipping files over.
> >
> >
> > This means that BackupPC would need to be changed from a "pull" backup
> > system (by the server), to "push" backups (by the clients). It would
> also
> > change the way the web interface operated (if clients now access from
> the
> > server), or the structure and relationship between systems if the
> option of
> > a gateway or staging server is utilized.
> >
> > While I am not a programmer, and would not be able to even begin to
> provide
> > any assistance in this, I think such an option would not just put
> BackupPC
> > over the top (as it is already there), but would place it in a
> completely
> > new class of software (BaaS - Backups as a Service), and open up a whole
> > new realm of options for OSS fans.
> >
> >
> > Any criticisms (or dissecting, correcting, whatever) of the above is
> > welcomed. Does anyone think this may be feasible?
>
> Yeah -- why would anyone ever want to do this?
> The whole beauty/simplicity of BackupPC is that it does not need any
> specialized client to install, manage and run -- it simply uses
> existing ssh/rsync/smb/tar/ftp etc. applications. Nor is there
> anything to run or break on the client.
>
> Plus, any encryption on the client side hidden to the server would
> completely destroy BackupPC's pooling/deduplication feature which is
> perhaps one of its strongest and most unique features.
>
> Plus, this would require a near-complete rewrite of BackupPC.
>
> So, why the heck would anyone want to do this?
>
>
Well, the data de-duplication issue has been conceded.
However, why would one wish to have a "push" backup server which waits for
the clients to send backups - easy, to run a remote backup service for
disparate clts on separate (and remote) networks, whose systems are all
separate, distinct and unrelated to each other.
I think there may be a window of opportunity there. As far as the complete
re-write, if encryption is left out, it may only require a rewrite of the
web front-end, since all of the other pieces will mostly remain in place.
Gerry George
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