proxmox-backup/docs/terminology.rst

.. _terminology:

Terminology
===========

Backup Content
--------------

When doing deduplication, there are different strategies to get
optimal results in terms of performance and/or deduplication rates.
Depending on the type of data, it can be split into *fixed* or *variable*
sized chunks.

Fixed sized chunking requires minimal CPU power, and is used to
backup virtual machine images.

Variable sized chunking needs more CPU power, but is essential to get
good deduplication rates for file archives.

The Proxmox Backup Server supports both strategies.


Image Archives: ``<name>.img``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is used for virtual machine images and other large binary
data. Content is split into fixed-sized chunks.


File Archives: ``<name>.pxar``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.. see https://moinakg.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/high-performance-content-defined-chunking/

A file archive stores a full directory tree. Content is stored using
the :ref:`pxar-format`, split into variable-sized chunks. The format
is optimized to achieve good deduplication rates.


Binary Data (BLOBs)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This type is used to store smaller (< 16MB) binary data such as
configuration files. Larger files should be stored as image archive.

.. caution:: Please do not store all files as BLOBs. Instead, use the
   file archive to store whole directory trees.


Catalog File: ``catalog.pcat1``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The catalog file is an index for file archives. It contains
the list of files and is used to speed up search operations.


The Manifest: ``index.json``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The manifest contains the list of all backup files, their
sizes and checksums. It is used to verify the consistency of a
backup.


Backup Type
-----------

The backup server groups backups by *type*, where *type* is one of:

``vm``
    This type is used for :term:`virtual machine`\ s. Typically
    consists of the virtual machine's configuration file and an image archive
    for each disk.

``ct``
    This type is used for :term:`container`\ s. Consists of the container's
    configuration and a single file archive for the filesystem content.

``host``
    This type is used for backups created from within the backed up machine.
    Typically this would be a physical host but could also be a virtual machine
    or container. Such backups may contain file and image archives, there are no restrictions in this regard.


Backup ID
---------

A unique ID. Usually the virtual machine or container ID. ``host``
type backups normally use the hostname.


Backup Time
-----------

The time when the backup was made.


Backup Group
------------

The tuple ``<type>/<ID>`` is called a backup group. Such a group
may contain one or more backup snapshots.

.. _backup_snapshot:

Backup Snapshot
---------------

The triplet ``<type>/<ID>/<time>`` is called a backup snapshot. It
uniquely identifies a specific backup within a datastore.

.. code-block:: console
   :caption: Backup Snapshot Examples

    vm/104/2019-10-09T08:01:06Z
    host/elsa/2019-11-08T09:48:14Z

As you can see, the time format is RFC3399_ with Coordinated
Universal Time (UTC_, identified by the trailing *Z*).