Backup tool fot ZFS with all "classic dump(8)" fetatures -- what should I use? (or is here any way to make dump -L works well on large FFS2+SU?)

[J. Hellenthal]

On Mon, 28 Mar 2011 03:20, lev@ wrote:
> Hello, Freebsd-stable.
>
>  Now I'm backing up my HOME filesystem with dump(8). It works
> perfectly for 80GiB FS with many features: snapshot for consistency,
> levels, "nodump" flag (my users use it a lot!), ability to extract
> only one removed file from backup without restoring full FS, simple
> sctipy wrap-up for levels schedule, etc.
>
>  On new server I  have huge HOME (500GiB). And even if it is filled
> up only with 25GiB of data, creating snapshot takes about 10 minutes,
> freeze all I/O, and sometimes FAILS (!!!).
>
>  I'm thinking to transfer GOME filesystem to ZFS. But I can not find
> appropriate tools for backing it up. Here is some requirements:
>
> (1) One-file (one-stream) backup. Not directory mirror. I need to
>     store it on FTP server and upload with single command.
>
> (2) Levels & increment backups. Now I have "Monthly (0) - Weekly
>    (1,2,3) - daily (4,5,6,7,8,9)" scheme. I could afford other schemes,
>    but if they doesn't store full backup every day and doesn't need full
>    backup more often than weekly.
>
> (3) Minimum of local metadata. Storing previous backups locally to
>     calculate next one is not appropriate solution. "zfs send" needs
>     previous snapshots for incremental backup, for example.
>
> (4) Working with snapshot (I think, it is trivial in case of ZFS).
>
> (5) Backup exclusions should be controlled by users (not super-user) themselves,
>     like "nodump" flag in case of FFS/dump(8). "zfs send" can not
>     provide this. I have very responsible users, so full backup
>     now takes only up to 10GiB when all HOME FS is about 25GiB, so it
>     is big help when backup is sent over Internet to other host.
>
> (6) Storing of ALL FS-specific information -- ACLs, etc.
>
> (7) Free :)
>
>  Is here something like this for ZFS? "zfs send" looks promising,
> EXCEPT item (5) and, maybe, (3) :(
>
>   gnu tar looks like everything but (6) :(
>


There is information all over the place for this. I would suggest that you 
take the time and go over the required reading to understand ZFS and its 
concepts before you jump into conclusions.

Here is some docs to start with.
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E19253-01/819-5461/index.html
http://hub.opensolaris.org/bin/view/Community+Group+zfs/faq
http://www.solarisinternals.com/wiki/index.php/ZFS_Best_Practices_Guide


-- 

  Regards,

  J. Hellenthal
  (0x89D8547E)
  JJH48-ARIN