New Backup System finished

brong · 5 Dec 2007, 01:33 PM

(also posted to the technical blog)

I've just finished the final component of the conversion of the backup system - a new restore utility.

There were a couple of problems with the old restore utility, stemming from its design of just copying the messages back into the folder and reconstructing to make them "appear" - it didn't work safely with some IMAP clients, it didn't work safely with replication and there was a possibility that you could delete messages that were already there if you forced the restore to overwrite what was there.

Oh - and a restore could easily push you over quota if you were near the edge as well.

So - the new restore system is much simpler and safer for all cases, though it involves a little more manual work:

- the admin at our end selects which folders to restore
- the backup system does its magic and a brand new folder tree appears at:

RESTORED.username.YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS

Where "username" is the localpart of your login name, and YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS is a timestamp in year, month, day, hour, minute, second format with a 'T' in the middle.

This folder will be deleted automatically one week later. It doesn't count towards your quota usage during that time, though any emails copied out to a normal folder will of course count as usual.

This was the last component to having a really robust backup and restore system, and I'm very happy to have finished it

ewal · 5 Dec 2007, 01:46 PM

Bron

Sounds good. I have never had to have a restore, but it is good to know that this robust backup/restore process is in place - for the day I need it.

This question will come up, no doubt, so I will ask it up front. How far back in time will the backups be for? Currently it is for 7 days right?

cheers
Ed

Merovingian · 5 Dec 2007, 06:43 PM

Great job, Bron.
This is a great feature. Very robust system, indeed.

mvpittman · 5 Dec 2007, 09:52 PM

Nice job... on to the next enhancement.

Chipper · 5 Dec 2007, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvpittman

Nice job... on to the next enhancement.

OK -- I'll take the bait.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvpittman

the next enhancement.

calendar

zhak · 6 Dec 2007, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chipper

OK -- I'll take the bait.

calendar

Nah, threading (optional).

mvpittman · 6 Dec 2007, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chipper

OK -- I'll take the bait.
calendar

Heh, RSS to e-mail integration? Addressbook syncronization? Oh, yeah, more bandwidth and storage too.

Daniel S · 6 Dec 2007, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zhak

Nah, threading (optional).

No; replication. (Replicate Bron!)

Merovingian · 6 Dec 2007, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel S

No; replication. (Replicate Bron!)

Great idea!!

and if not.......the new interface!!!

brong · 6 Dec 2007, 07:15 AM

According to my little checklist it's the new authentication scheme.

That said, I had someone email me the other day about CalDAV support in Net:

AV::Server - specifically he's interested in adding it. Well, you don't say no to offers like that

5 Dec 2007, 01:33 PM	#1
brong The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 2,696 Representative of: Fastmail.fm	New Backup System finished (also posted to the technical blog) I've just finished the final component of the conversion of the backup system - a new restore utility. There were a couple of problems with the old restore utility, stemming from its design of just copying the messages back into the folder and reconstructing to make them "appear" - it didn't work safely with some IMAP clients, it didn't work safely with replication and there was a possibility that you could delete messages that were already there if you forced the restore to overwrite what was there. Oh - and a restore could easily push you over quota if you were near the edge as well. So - the new restore system is much simpler and safer for all cases, though it involves a little more manual work: - the admin at our end selects which folders to restore - the backup system does its magic and a brand new folder tree appears at: RESTORED.username.YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS Where "username" is the localpart of your login name, and YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS is a timestamp in year, month, day, hour, minute, second format with a 'T' in the middle. This folder will be deleted automatically one week later. It doesn't count towards your quota usage during that time, though any emails copied out to a normal folder will of course count as usual. This was the last component to having a really robust backup and restore system, and I'm very happy to have finished it

6 Dec 2007, 07:15 AM	#10
brong The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 2,696 Representative of: Fastmail.fm	According to my little checklist it's the new authentication scheme. That said, I had someone email me the other day about CalDAV support in Net:AV::Server - specifically he's interested in adding it. Well, you don't say no to offers like that

5 Dec 2007, 01:46 PM	#2
ewal Master of the @ Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: West Sussex, UK Posts: 1,334	Bron Sounds good. I have never had to have a restore, but it is good to know that this robust backup/restore process is in place - for the day I need it. This question will come up, no doubt, so I will ask it up front. How far back in time will the backups be for? Currently it is for 7 days right? cheers Ed

5 Dec 2007, 06:43 PM	#3
Merovingian Master of the @ Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 1,583	Great job, Bron. This is a great feature. Very robust system, indeed.

5 Dec 2007, 09:52 PM	#4
mvpittman Essential Contributor Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 428	Nice job... on to the next enhancement.