Re: [rdiff-backup-users] multiple archive hardlink space saving?

[Joshua Jensen]

All these machines are different, and not all are doing the same
things.  They are all important servers for a Fortune 100 company.
When I say that 90% of the data is the same, I mean that probably 80%
to 100% of the files between any two machines are the same on select
filesystems.  /etc might be very different, /opt is probably very
different... however /usr and maybe some other directories/filesystems
are similar.  It just seems silly to store say 300 or so identical
files from each machine 2000 times separately.

I was thinking that rdiff-backup could just keep an additional
hardlink-only list of files/checksums that any individual run could
reference, thus giving it a perspective outside of that individual
backup.  When it found a file that was already on that global/group
list, it need not transfer it, only hardlink to it.  This could make
storing similar files MUCH more space and network efficient.


Joshua