Topic: DVD Drives

[allsorts]

Hi,

Now that 7.3 is out with backup to DVD available from the consol, I have a numpty question.

What DVD writers are recognised by SME?

My server is an old Compaq PIII with an IDE drive interface. Would it be a fairly safe assumption that  any drive with an IDE interface will work? I'm not after any fancy features just the abilty to burn a DVD with a backup (and restore it...).

Many thanks.
Dave.

[raem]

allsorts

Why don't you plug it in and see, and then let us know.
Everyones effort contributes knowledge to the project.

[CharlieBrady]

Now that 7.3 is out with backup to DVD available from the consol...

Really? I thought there was only restore from DVD. And backup to USB hard drive ...

[allsorts]

allsorts

Why don't you plug it in and see, and then let us know.
Everyones effort contributes knowledge to the project.

'Cause I haven't got a drive yet!  I was rather hoping that someone would know how standard the interface is on a DVD drive and be able to say that ones conforming to XYZ standard will work.

[allsorts]

Really? I thought there was only restore from DVD. And backup to USB hard drive ...

Well that is how I read the 7.3 annoucement Charlie:

Backups
-------
- Ability to use console restore with CD or DVD recordable media

Though  now I read it again it doesn't *actually* mention being able to backup to DVD/CD media. But what is the point of being able to restore from CD/DVD it if you can't back up to it in the first place FFS.

Cheers
Dave.

PS. Why did I have to re-register in these forums? I was registered a while back..

[raem]

allsorts

But what is the point of being able to restore from CD/DVD it if you can't back up to it in the first place

The concept is that you backup to a (Windows) workstation share, then burn locally on the workstation to a CD or DVD and then restore to a new install of sme OS the first time it is started.

[allsorts]

The concept is that you backup to a (Windows) workstation share, then burn locally on the workstation to a CD or DVD and then restore to a new install of sme OS the first time it is started.

Hum, I can sort of see the rationale, the server should be physically secure so accesing it to swap discs could be a problem though this isn't applied in the case of tape backups...

I saw in the forum a NFR for backup to DVD to be added to Server Manger a quick look in bugzilla doesn't find such a request is there one or should I rasie it?  There has been some work on scripts to perform backups to CD/DVD from the consol. I don't think any new packages are required either.

[raem]

allsorts

You seem to misunderstand.

The backup is done to a Windows workstation share.
The backup file is then burnt to a CD using the CD burner on the Windows workstation.
Restore of files larger than 2GB is not supported due to Apache limitations, so the only reliable way to restore the backup file is via a CD.

The CD is then inserted into the drive in the sme server.
When you first install the sme operating system software and the server reboots for the first time, you are presented with an option to allow you to restore from CD.
You then restore from the backup file on the CD.

All of the above has nothing to do with burning CD or DVD backups directly on the server as that is not currently supported.
The above method would not usually be used for doing regular routine daily backups.

For routine backups you could use the backup dar contrib or the e-smith backup with dar contrib (under test for inclusion into the base release), but neither of these burn directly to CD's. They save to a share on a workstation, which could be a removable (IDE, SATA or USB) hard drive, or to a USB drive mounted directly on the server.

I'm not aware of any current contrib for sme 7.2 or 7.3 that burns backups directly to CD's or DVD's although there have been suggestions and methods outlined for previous versions of sme server.