[ovz](http://repo/gitweb/?p=ovz.git;a=tree),
[esata](http://repo/gitweb/?p=esata.git;a=tree).
-# OpenVZ
-
-TMI hosts its compute resources on DELL PE1800 servers configured as a cluster
-of [OpenVZ](http://www.openvz.org) Hardware Nodes (HN's), which host multiple
-OpenVZ Virtual Environments (VE's). Open VZ VE's are virtual machines
-virtualized at the operating system. The downside is that all VE's must be
-Linux instances capable of running on the OpenVZ kernel. The upside is that
-far more OS virtualized instances can reside on a given set of hardware
-compared to virtualizers like VMWare and Xen, which (para-)virtualize hardware.
-
-# BackupPC
-
-TMI uses [BackupPC](http://backuppc.sourceforge.net) for backup services across
-our company, including notebooks, workstations and servers (OpenVZ VE's). We
-are especially happy with BackupPC and how it is integrated into our server
-environment. Each HN is backed up as a separate host, but none of the data
-for any VE's it may be hosting. Each VE is also backed up, each as a separate
-host. Our HN's use LVM, and our add-on scripts allow for backup of any VE with
-minimal downtime. The scripts actually shut down the VE, create a snapshot of
-the HN volume on which the VE's filesystem is stored, restarts the VE,
-completes the over-the-net BackupPC backup operation, then removes the snapshot.
-By shutting down the VE, we ensure the integrity of the backup without
-requiring application specific tools like database hotcopy scripts. By using
-LVM, the VE downtime is typically less than 90 seconds. We backup every system
-every evening.
-
-# Off-site backups
-
-BackupPC maintains an on-disk archive of de-duplicated backups for all hosts.
-We maintain off-site backups by cloning the BackupPC archive to removable
-eSATA disks. For fastest recovery, we run BackupPC in a VE within our
-server infrastructure, so what we clone to an external disk is the entire
-BackupPC VE filesystem. We also keep a second partition on each removable
-disk, which contains, essentially, our HN operating system. eSATA connections
-make this backup operation very fast. And because a human must connect an
-external drive prior to the backup, that person can also provide the necessary
-key that allows the external drive filesystems to be cryptographically secure.
-We clone the BackupPC archive once per week, and rotate several external
-drives through the off-site location.
-
-# Recovery
-
-A word about recovery: great. This combination of technologies allows the
-recovery of any system, directory, or file stored within the BackupPC archive
-over the network. The data need not be recovered to the same machine from
-which it was backed up, nor does it need to be placed in the same directory.
-Restore operations are done via a web interface, and the interface does not
-have to be accessed from the machine to which the data are to be restored.
-
-Disaster recovery is also a big plus. The entire TMI infrastructure can be
-reconstructed onto new hardware from just one off-site archive drive.
-
-# TMI code
-
-TMI maintains a number of code repositories containing scripts, etc. for
-integrating OpenVZ and BackupPC. Please be aware that these are formulated
-somewhat specifically for our environment. But if you have a similar setup,
-they should be usable with minimal massaging. Someday, someone here will take
-the time to merge this stuff into a single repo and document it better.
-
-# BackupPC scripts
-
-The [BackupPC scripts repository](http://repo/gitweb/?p=backuppc.git;a=tree)
-includes:
-
-* BackupPC_ovz. Installed on an HN, it allows BackupPC to backup from and
- restore to any VE hosted on any HN in the cluster. When VE's are migrated
- between HN's, the backup configuration does not need to change.
-
-* Holger Parplies' BackupPC_verifyPool.
-
-* See the [README](http://repo/gitweb/?p=backuppc.git;a=blob;f=README;hb=HEAD)
- in the repository for more information.
-
-# OpenVZ scripts
-
-The [OpenVZ scripts repository](http://repo/gitweb/?p=ovz.git;a=tree)
-includes:
-
-* bpcdump. Similar in concept to vzdump. Although fairly general in nature,
- we use it only for backing up the BackupPC VE, whose filesystem is on a
- private LVM LV (logical volume), to an eSATA drive.
-
-* bpcbackup. A script that runs from crontab on one or more HN's to launch
- the bpcdump program. Since all our HN's are configured the same, each has
- an eSATA port and can be used to perform a backup of the BackupPC VE.
-
-* See the [README.recover](http://repo/gitweb/?p=ovz.git;a=blob;f=README.recover;hb=HEAD)
- file for mroe information.
-
-# eSATA scripts
-
-The [eSATA scripts repository](http://repo/gitweb/?p=esata.git;a=tree)
-contains the esata script, which wraps the `scsiadd` utility for properly
-handling esternal drives on the Dell PE1800 and PE1900 platforms. Newer
-hardware and better Linux kernel support should someday make scripts like this
-unnecessary. See the included
-[README](http://repo/gitweb/?p=esata.git;a=blob;f=README;hb=HEAD) file for
-more information.
+# TMI backup strategy
+
+TMI hosts its compute resources in [OpenVZ](http://www.openvz.org) Virtual
+Environments (VE) running on a cluster of Dell PE1800 servers. The contents
+of each VE, as well as the servers hosting them, are backed up using
+[BackupPC](http://backuppc.sourceforge.net). Periodically, a clone of the
+BackupPC disk archive is made on one of a pool of external eSATA drives, which
+are rotated off-site for disaster recovery. TMI has authored a few program
+scripts which integrate these backup components.
+
+* [BackupPC_ovz](http://repo/gitweb/?p=backuppc.git;a=blob;f=README;hb=HEAD)
+ allows an OpenVZ VE to be backed up and restored via BackupPC without
+ special configuration of the VE, nor with BackupPC being told on which
+ hardware node the VE is running.
+
+* bpcdump and friends support cloning the BackupPC VE to a removeable eSATA
+ drive for disaster recovery. See [README.recover](http://repo/gitweb/?p=ovz.git;a=blob;f=README.recover;hb=HEAD)
+ for more information.
+
+* The [esata](http://repo/gitweb/?p=esata.git;a=tree) wraps the `scsiadd`
+ utility for properly handling eSATA drives on Dell PE1800 and PE1900
+ platforms. Newer hardware and better Linux kernel support will someday make
+ scripts like this unnecessary. See the included
+ [README](http://repo/gitweb/?p=esata.git;a=blob;f=README;hb=HEAD) for more
+ information.
projects / oss-web.git / blobdiff