Isolated Mode / Offline Backups

Traveling with a laptop and a small storage for backup (e.g., a memory stick) - this is the typical user case for this scenario. The storeBackup isolatedMode offers the ideal solution in this use case.

Advantages:

Limitations:

Imagine, you have a big backup disk (or raid or whatever) at work or in your home containing your master backup repository. Now you have to go away for a week or so. You want to be able to make backups to your master backup repository while not connected (with good enough performance) (we call them offline backups). You want to use the most convenient storage media possible during your travels. And most importantly - you know you need to integrate your travel backup contents into your master backup repository.24

With storeBackup isolatedMode and a small memory stick, the application initializes your memory stick by copying the meta data from the last backup of your laptop from the master backup. The application will also fine-tune your storeBackup options as needed25. Then you go traveling and make incremental backups on your stick. These backups will normally need only very limited memory to store them because they contain the (compressed) deltas only. When you're back and you have access to your master backup repository, you'll run storeBackupMergeIsolatedBackup.pl which will copy your incremental backups to the right place in the master backup repository, and then storeBackupUpdateBackup.pl will automatically do all the necessary tasks to make space efficient full backups from your incremental ones.26 Naturally, tools from storeBackup will support you in doing this to make these steps easy and reliable.



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Heinz-Josef Claes 2014-04-20