FreeNAS heaven, Bacula hell

[Matt999]

Hi everyone!

I've had Windows Home Server in the past, and currently using TrueOS server. WHS was easy to use, but proved a bit flaky when needed. TrueOS seems to be solid using ZFS, but setting up a share was painful for a Samba virgin without a GUI, using 'vi' to edit whatever file it was (I can't remember now), and I have no chance of doing anything more clever without a GUI.

I'm giving FreeNAS a good try out with old hardware before I pay out on all the 'proper' hardware, and trying out some of it's features...

I want...
1) File sharing
2) Central backup location for 4 Windows 7 PC's and one Linux PC.
3) There are 2 iPads in the house, and one iPhone, so possibly some backup arrangement can be made for them too.
4) Android phones too
5) Possibly a Torrent client

File sharing was sorted easily, but I'm struggling with Bacula. I just can't seem to join the dots... I may use Acronis onto the share, into separate folders. I'm also looking at Crashplan...

No idea where to start with the rest...

Gigabyte GM785-E51, Athlon II 235e, 8gb (non-ECC) Ram, 1.0Tb + 1.5Tb WD green, 2 x 8Gb San Cruzer Fit (mirrored), Coolermaster 330 case

Supermicro etc will follow if I can get Bacula working...

 

[dlavigne]

Did you come up with a plan for this?

 

[anodos]

Which bacula services are you trying to install in a FreeNAS jail? What do you need from your backups, ability to just restore data or the ability to do a bare-metal restore?

 

[Matt999]

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me.

I'm no further with by backup plans, but I now have some urgency as my TrueOS pool is degraded. All important data is now copied onto my FreeNAS test box (only one HDD!) and also an external USB HDD. Not ideal, but needs must. Still loving the FreeNAS GUI!

I'm soon going to take the plunge and place a big order at scan.co.uk for Supermicro MB, ECC ram and WD red disks etc, following all the FreeNAS hardware recommendations.

Backup-wise, I've used Acronis to backup Win7 PC's in the past, and until I can get Bacula to work, that's what I'll have to carry on doing. It will be aimed at a dedicated share on FreeNAS.

I would like to persevere with Bacula though, as it's supposedly super hardcore server stuff, and that's the direction I'm heading.

So far on my test box, I've installed the Bacula plugin on FreeNAS, and installed the client (as administrator) on my main Win7 PC. This is as far as my success goes. After that, the settings on the client seem to make sense, but I can't seem to get the settings on the server right. I've tried to read up about Bacula on the forums, but I'm still confused. I'm sure it's something really simple and it's just me being dumb. I don't feel confident with 'jails' and will be carrying out further research in due course. The Bacula website isn't a lot of help, unless you buy into a contract.

Right now, I'm just going to try and get my new FreeNAS build right, and use Acronis until such time as I figure out Bacula.

I'll post about my build sometime, and pursue my Holy Grail (Bacula) later.

 

[anodos]

I'm going to start working with bacula within the next month or so. I'll probably be running the file daemon in a freenas jail, with director and storage daemon on a separate server with an autoloading tape drive. I fully anticipate getting addicted to migraine meds. :)

That being said, my quick-and-dirty backup method is as follows:
1) perform full backup to my server via ssh using clonezilla (to 'backups' dataset)
2) perform incremental backups of user profile using powershell script / robocopy.

This works since I rarely install new software. If I do install something new, then I perform (1) again.

 

[Matt999]

Well,

I placed my order today for Supermicro X10SL7-F, 1x (recommended) 8GB ECC RAM, 2x WD Red 3Tb HDD, and a Fractal Design R4 case. I'll be using and old Antec EA-380Green 380w 80 Plus Bronze PSU. I plan to order more RAM and HDD's later...

Also, my test box now has 5 x 1.5Tb HDD's arranged as RaidZ2. Still the same AMD chip and non-ECC ram though . Email SMART reports are set up and working, so that should help avoid fatal HDD problems in the future. Still LOVING the GUI - I've been doing scubs just so I can see the graphs going up and down - very sad!

Bacula will still have to wait a while... Wish me luck...

Matt

 

[dragon_0n3]

Hey Matt!
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but how did you get the bacula web-gui to connect?
Do you browse to the jail IP then specific port? Does the web gui need to be turned on somewhere particular?
thanks :)