simba - simple integrated multiplatform backup and archive
Simba is an integrated backup and archive system, i.e. it is intended for both restoring accidentally lost files and for long term archiving.
The basic idea was to combine a filesystem-based on-line archive as produced by my rsync-snapshot tool (I think Mike Rubel's article is older, but I wasn't aware of it at that time) with a RDBMS-based index which would hold metadata for the files in the on-line archive as well as for files which have been moved to off-line archives (e.g., tape or optical media). A side effect of the index is that is easy to identify files which are exact copies and archive them only once.
The original concept was developed for the WSR, but since they chose a different solution, I implemented the software only for my personal use. This has changed the objectives somewhat:
- The "multiplatform" requirement was dropped. All my boxes run Linux. I'm still looking for a replacement requirement which can save the "M" ;-).
- There is no archiving on tapes. I have a DDS-40 drive, but just using multiple USB disks seems to be a better match for my needs (at the moment I have only one USB disk).
- Some stuff is hard-coded which should really be configurable.
- Performance isn't that important.
If you are brave, feel free to get the current version from the SVN repository.