208 lines
8.2 KiB
ReStructuredText
208 lines
8.2 KiB
ReStructuredText
Introduction
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============
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What is Proxmox Backup Server
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-----------------------------
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Proxmox Backup Server is an enterprise-class, client-server backup software
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package that backs up :term:`virtual machine`\ s, :term:`container`\ s, and
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physical hosts. It is specially optimized for the `Proxmox Virtual Environment`_
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platform and allows you to back up your data securely, even between remote
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sites, providing easy management with a web-based user interface.
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Proxmox Backup Server supports deduplication, compression, and authenticated
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encryption (AE_). Using :term:`Rust` as the implementation language guarantees high
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performance, low resource usage, and a safe, high-quality codebase.
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It features strong client-side encryption. Thus, it's possible to
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backup data to targets that are not fully trusted.
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Architecture
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------------
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Proxmox Backup Server uses a `client-server model`_. The server stores the
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backup data and provides an API to create and manage datastores. With the
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API, it's also possible to manage disks and other server-side resources.
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The backup client uses this API to access the backed up data. With the command
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line tool ``proxmox-backup-client`` you can create backups and restore data.
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For QEMU_ with `Proxmox Virtual Environment`_ we deliver an integrated client.
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A single backup is allowed to contain several archives. For example, when you
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backup a :term:`virtual machine`, each disk is stored as a separate archive
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inside that backup. The VM configuration itself is stored as an extra file.
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This way, it's easy to access and restore only important parts of the backup,
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without the need to scan the whole backup.
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Main Features
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-------------
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:Support for Proxmox VE: The `Proxmox Virtual Environment`_ is fully
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supported and you can easily backup :term:`virtual machine`\ s and
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:term:`container`\ s.
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:Performance: The whole software stack is written in :term:`Rust`,
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in order to provide high speed and memory efficiency.
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:Deduplication: Periodic backups produce large amounts of duplicate
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data. The deduplication layer avoids redundancy and minimizes the storage
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space used.
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:Incremental backups: Changes between backups are typically low. Reading and
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sending only the delta reduces the storage and network impact of backups.
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:Data Integrity: The built-in `SHA-256`_ checksum algorithm ensures accuracy and
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consistency in your backups.
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:Remote Sync: It is possible to efficiently synchronize data to remote
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sites. Only deltas containing new data are transferred.
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:Compression: The ultra-fast Zstandard_ compression is able to compress
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several gigabytes of data per second.
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:Encryption: Backups can be encrypted on the client-side, using AES-256 in
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Galois/Counter Mode (GCM_) mode. This authenticated encryption (AE_) mode
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provides very high performance on modern hardware.
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:Web interface: Manage the Proxmox Backup Server with the integrated, web-based
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user interface.
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:Open Source: No secrets. Proxmox Backup Server is free and open-source
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software. The source code is licensed under AGPL, v3.
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:Support: Enterprise support will be available from `Proxmox`_ once the beta
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phase is over.
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Reasons for Data Backup?
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------------------------
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The main purpose of a backup is to protect against data loss. Data loss can be
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caused by both faulty hardware and human error.
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A common mistake is to accidentally delete a file or folder which is still
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required. Virtualization can even amplify this problem, as deleting a whole
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virtual machine can be as easy as pressing a single button.
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For administrators, backups can serve as a useful toolkit for temporarily
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storing data. For example, it is common practice to perform full backups before
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installing major software updates. If something goes wrong, you can easily
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restore the previous state.
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Another reason for backups are legal requirements. Some data, especially
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business records, must be kept in a safe place for several years by law, so
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that they can be accessed if required.
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In general, data loss is very costly as it can severely damage your business.
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Therefore, ensure that you perform regular backups and run restore tests.
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Software Stack
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--------------
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Proxmox Backup Server consists of multiple components:
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* A server-daemon providing, among other things, a RESTful API, super-fast
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asynchronous tasks, lightweight usage statistic collection, scheduling
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events, strict separation of privileged and unprivileged execution
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environments
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* A JavaScript management web interface
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* A management CLI tool for the server (`proxmox-backup-manager`)
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* A client CLI tool (`proxmox-backup-client`) to access the server easily from
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any `Linux amd64` environment
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Aside from the web interface, everything is written in the Rust programming
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language.
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"The Rust programming language helps you write faster, more reliable software.
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High-level ergonomics and low-level control are often at odds in programming
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language design; Rust challenges that conflict. Through balancing powerful
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technical capacity and a great developer experience, Rust gives you the option
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to control low-level details (such as memory usage) without all the hassle
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traditionally associated with such control."
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-- `The Rust Programming Language <https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/ch00-00-introduction.html>`_
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.. todo:: further explain the software stack
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Getting Help
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------------
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Community Support Forum
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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We always encourage our users to discuss and share their knowledge using the
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`Proxmox Community Forum`_. The forum is moderated by the Proxmox support team.
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The large user base is spread out all over the world. Needless to say that such
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a large forum is a great place to get information.
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Mailing Lists
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Proxmox Backup Server is fully open-source and contributions are welcome! Here
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is the primary communication channel for developers:
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:Mailing list for developers: `PBS Development List`_
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Bug Tracker
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~~~~~~~~~~~
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Proxmox runs a public bug tracker at `<https://bugzilla.proxmox.com>`_. If an
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issue appears, file your report there. An issue can be a bug as well as a
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request for a new feature or enhancement. The bug tracker helps to keep track
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of the issue and will send a notification once it has been solved.
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License
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-------
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Copyright (C) 2019-2020 Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH
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This software is written by Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH <support@proxmox.com>
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Proxmox Backup Server is free and open source software: you can use it,
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redistribute it, and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General
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Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3
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of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
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This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
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``WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY``; without even the implied warranty of
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``MERCHANTABILITY`` or ``FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE``. See the GNU
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Affero General Public License for more details.
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You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
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along with this program. If not, see AGPL3_.
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History
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-------
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Backup is, and always was, as central aspect of IT administration.
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The need to recover from data loss is fundamental and increases with
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virtualization.
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Not surprisingly, we shipped a backup tool with Proxmox VE from the
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beginning. The tool is called ``vzdump`` and is able to make
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consistent snapshots of running LXC containers and KVM virtual
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machines.
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But ``vzdump`` only allowed for full backups. While this is perfect
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for small backups, it becomes a burden for users with large VMs. Both
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backup time and space usage was too large for this case, specially
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when Users want to keep many backups of the same VMs. We need
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deduplication and incremental backups to solve those problems.
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Back in October 2018 development started. We had been looking into
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several technologies and frameworks and finally decided to use
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:term:`Rust` as implementation language to provide high speed and
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memory efficiency. The 2018-edition of Rust seemed to be promising and
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useful for our requirements.
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In July 2020 we released the first beta version of Proxmox Backup
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Server, followed by a first stable version in November 2020. With the
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support of incremental, fully deduplicated backups, Proxmox Backup
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significantly reduces the network load and saves valuable storage
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space.
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