ZFS = Amazing Disk Based Backups

A project I was recently involved with was basically revamping a failing Backup system due to the environment outgrowing Symantec Backup Exec. The environment was mostly UNIX. Backups were inconsistent and a lot of administration and babysitting had to occur for a good set of tapes to get ready for the off-site vault.

Again, the recommended solution wasn’t approved. This time, it was clear NetBackup was needed for the ailments at hand. The hardware on-hand was great, but the Backup Exec software couldn’t compete. The $30k-$40k for the NetBackup software was no where to be found.

The final solution may have actually turned out better. That is, cheap storage + ZFS + rsync scripts.

The project was completed with 15 TBs of Linux servers backed up to one Solaris server with about 60 days of daily snapshots. Backup Exec manages the tape rotation from the backups on the Solaris/ZFS box and doesn’t touch any other hosts.

Users are happy because they can recover what they delete, management is happy because the price is right, and IT is happy because its reliable.

Mission accomplished!

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