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BackupSW application provides two types of backup capability for personal computers. Synchronization-based backup stores copies of modified files at a backup destination, and Archive-based backup compresses, bundles and stores backup copies of modified files in archives.
Synchronized-backup keeps files in their original form. Therefore they can be easily restored. Archived-based backup uses industry standard compression and archiving.
BackupSW application also provides File Transfer capability. In the File Transfer-mode, files are simply copied from the source directory to the destination directory across the network.
BackupSW is capable of operating across multiple computer platforms such as Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, Linux, and others. For example, using the BackupSW application, files on a Windows PC can be backed-up on a Linux computer.
CGI Common Gateway Interface
GUI Graphical User
Interface
IP Internet Protocol
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
URL Universal Resource Locator
Backup via File Synchronization works by comparing selected files in the Source file-system by saved copies at the Destination file-system. Files that have been modified since the last backup are copied to the destination file-system.
Operation:
Select Source files from the left pane in the main application window (Press the Shift key to select contiguous group of files, press the Ctrl key to select group of files that are not contiguous.)
Pressing the Start button
starts the backup
operation.
If selected items are files (not directories or devices), then they are copied directly into the selected Destination directory (if backup is needed for a particular file.) If the items are directories, then they are copied to the destination as subdirectories of the Destination directory.
The application will compare the "file modification date" of the selected Source files and corresponding Destination files. If the Source file is newer than the Destination file, then the application will overwrite the file at the Destination directory. Destination file's "last modification date" will be set to the source file's "last modification date".
Warning: Program will not warn the user before overwriting the files with the same name at the Destination directory.
Tip: The program will not delete old files in the Destination directory. Therefore, as files are deleted from the Source area, their backup copies at the Destination directory will still be around. So the Destination area should occasionally be cleaned up by removing old files that are no longer needed.
The Refresh button
synchronizes the source and the
destination file views with the actual file-system.
The Stop button
will stop an ongoing backup operation
(same as pressing the Escape key).
Any data transfer operation that is active when the Stop button is pressed
cannot be
interrupted. The application will stop before starting any new data transfer
operation.
During the backup operation, the progress bar at the bottom of the main program window will show what percent of the total number of selected files have been processed.
Names of the files that are being backed-up will be printed in the status label at the bottom of the main program window.
Only one version of a file is kept at the backup directory.
Warning:
The application does not verify written content after data is transferred. User should verify the validity of the data copied to the destination area.
Some file-systems may use file names for special devices. This may cause loss of backup data if file names do not correspond to regular files.
The application may not detect all possible failure types during file backup. User is advised to validate integrity of the backup file contents before using the data.
Tip: With Backup via Synchronization, since backups are taken as single file copies (without preserving older versions), it is most suitable for taking frequent backups and backup of large files (several mega bytes in size).
Synchronization based backup operations can be
repeated automatically by setting the repeat interval. Pressing the Repeat button
will bring up the
dialog window to set the repeat interval as Hours and Minutes. Pressing the Stop
button
button will stop any current operation and will
also cancel the repeat schedule.
Scheduled execution is disabled when the application is restarted.
In order to restore files backed-up via synchronization, simply copy them back from the backup directory by using tools provided by the native operating system. The File Transfer feature can also be used to copy files back.
(The application provides a restore mechanism for the Archive-based backup. See section below.)
Backup via Archiving stores backup files in archives. During each backup operation, selected files are compared with the files stored in archives in previous backup operations. Files that require backup are placed in a new archive file in each session. File archives are kept at the Destination directory in zip format.
BackupSW Profile selections Mac OS X
10.3
Operation:
Select Source files from the left pane in the main application window (Press the Shift key to select contiguous group of files, press the Ctrl key to select group of files that are not contiguous.)
Pressing the Start button
starts the backup
operation. Take Full Backup menu item under the Tools menu
starts backup operation which backs-up all selected files unconditionally.
The application first makes a list of files that will be backed up. Depending on the number of files, this phase may take several minutes. Then for each file in the list, existing archives are checked if a file has been modified since the last backup operation. If a file is modified, then a new copy of the file is added to the archive.
For each backup execution, the application creates a new archive file. The first created archive file includes all selected files. The archive files created in subsequent operations will only include files that are modified since the last backup.
Backup via Archiving preserves all versions of backed-up files until a Full Backup is taken. Full Backup will make copies of all the selected files and will attempt to remove the earlier archives (removal of old archives is not guaranties on all platforms.)
Archive file names have the following format:
BSW(host)(user)(year)(month)(day)(hour)(minute)(second).zip
Example:
BSWmyhostmyid20030916214410.zip
(The application maintains an index file called BSWArchiveMap.xml at the destination directory. If this file is damaged, restore operations may not be possible. However the backup copies of the files can still be accessed using a standard zip tool.)
Transfer of large archive files may take a long time. Progress of this data transfer operation will not be reflected in the Progress Bar at the bottom of the application window.
Tip:
Since each backup version of the files are preserved, Backup via Archiving is most suitable for taking infrequent backups.
Taking Archived Backups of very large files (several megabytes in size) will create multiple copies of these files for each backup session (if the files are modified.) Therefore it is best to take frequent backups of large files by using Backup via Synchronized.
When the first archive is created in the Destination directory, all of the selected files are copied to the archive. In successive backups, only modified files are copied into new archives.
Taking Full Backups will restart the cycle by making a complete archive with all of the selected files. Activating full backup will also attempt to remove the old archives, however this capability may not work in all platforms. If the old files are not being removed, they can be removed manually; Look for the message "Removing old archive ..." in the log files.
Note that changing the backup Destination directory will also restart the cycle. That may make it easier to cleanup and remove the old archives.
To restore files
backed-up via archives, press
the Restore button
which will
bring up the Restore window. In the Restore window, select the file that will be
restored and press the Submit button.
Files will be restored on to the system where the application is running.
Archives are kept in industry standard zip format. Therefore backed-up files can also be restores manually by unzipping the archives with a zip tool.
Warning: Restore operation will replace the contents of any local file with the same file name as the file being restored.
Use of the File Transfer feature is similar to the operations as described in the the Backup via Synchronization section. However, no file comparisons are done during File Transfer operations; Selected files at the Source are copied to the Destination area.
File Name Patterns are used to filter file name selections. Patterns are set using the File Name Patterns field as shown in the following figure:
Regular Expression is used as the grammar for patterns. See reference "http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/util/regex/Pattern.html" for exact version of the Regular Expression grammar used, or search for "regex" references on the web for common Regular Expression rules.
In addition to the common Regular Expression rules, BackupSW uses exclamation mark '!' in front of the pattern to negate the rule. Example: The pattern "\.exe" will select only the files having "exe" extension, while the pattern "!\.exe" will select any file that does not have an "exe" extension.
Basic Regular Expression notations:
. - any character
\ - following character as literal (ex: \. allows use of '.'
as dot character)
^ - start of string
$ - end of string
( - grouping start
) - grouping end
| - OR for group selections
Example: The pattern (\.ppt$)|(\.pdf$) will select all files with names that ends with .ppt OR .pdf
Application provides network-based backup capability between multiple computer. Remote Method Invocation (RMI) middleware is used to provide this capability. See the RMI Server options in the Preferences section.
For network operations, BackupSW application operates in client/server mode -- one application being the Client (the Source file-system) and the other the Server (the Destination file-system). The application running in the Server-mode can provide service to multiple Clients.
To communicate with the Server, Client applications must provide the Server Access Code set on the Server application by the user.
The Server Access Code must be set before using the network functionality. The access code field is located under the Network tab of the Options window -- pull down the Tools menu, select the Options menu item to access the options.
A hard to guess, long access code will provide better security against unauthorized access to the application. The code must be an alphanumeric character string longer than 6 characters.
Failed network connections or hosts that do not respond will delay initialization of the application.
Operation:
Network-based operation requires IP connectivity between the computers on which the BackupSW application runs.
Notice: BackupSW application cannot be used to setup or diagnose network problems. There are various tools available to check the IP connectivity, such as the widely known tool called ping (also available on the Windows platform.)
The example assumes a scenario where files on Computer A are backed-up on or transferred to Computer B:
Install and run the BackupSW application on Computer B
Set Server Access Code on Computer B
Note the IP address of Computer B (also shown in the Log as "local host address")
Install and run the BackupSW application on Computer A
Select the Hosts tab and add
a new Host by pressing the button
in the tool bar.
Put in the IP address of Computer B as the host name (or give the network host name of Computer B if you believe the name can be resolved to the IP address on the network)
Double click on the Access Code field of the new host and put in Computer B's Server Access Code that was set in step 2
Service Status field will indicate "Available" when two BackupSW applications are able to communicate
Now, in the Backup and Transfer tabs the new host can be selected from the Host pull down menu as highlighted in the following image:
Tip: After switching hosts for a Source or
Destination view, it may be necessary to refresh the file system views using the
Refresh button
Profiles capture and save operation types, host names, and file path selections. Profile attributes are restored when the application is restarted. Profiles also determine Batch-mode operations (see Batch-mode operations under Advanced Operations section.)
Profile data is saved under filename BackupSW.xml. (The schema definition of the data is saved in the XML Schema file BackupSW.xsd. It is recommended not to modify the Profile data manually via an editor.)
Profile Name is the name given by the user when a new profile is added.
The Profile Type determines what type of operation will be executed in the Batch-mode. There are three types of Profiles: ArchivedBackup, Transfer, and SynchronizedBackup. For example, if the type of a Profile is SynchronizedBackup, then when the application is started in the Batch-mode, the Profile will trigger execution of Synchoronized backup for the selected files in that Profile.
Value of the Active field determines if an execution will be started for that Profile in the Batch-mode.
The Source field determines the host file-system that will be used as the Source of file operations. For backups and for file transfers Source is where the files originate from.
The Destination field determines the host file-system that will be used as the Destination for backups. Destination file-system identifies the target directory for backups and file transfers.
See Advanced Operations for the description of Start Signal URL, End Signal URL
Hosts are the computers where the file-systems reside. Local host is the machine on which the BackupSW application is running.
Hosts are primarily identified by their Name. IP address of a host can also be used for Host Name.
When adding a new Host, type in the name of the host. In home networks where host-name-to-IP-address resolution may not be possible, the IP address of the host can be given as the host name -- in that case, the IP address will appear as both the Host Name and the Host Address.
Host Access Code must be set to the same value that is typed in as the Server Access Code on the BackupSW application running on the remote host.
Type indicates whether the host is the local host (the host where the BackupSW application is running on) or a remote host connected via the network.
Service Status indicates if the BackupSW application could establish connection with the BackupSW application running on the other host machine.
Platform shows the operating system type of the connected BackupSW application.
When a new host is added, there will be a delay while the application tries to resolve the host name.
If some of the hosts are not accessible on the network, then the initialization of the application will take longer.
Application options are set using the Preferences pop-up window. Options menu item under the Tools menu is used to bring up the Preferences window.
General Options:
Check Floppy Drive: When scanning file-system, accessing to floppy drives that do not have a disk may generate system errors via pop-up notices. These errors will block execution until the notice is acknowledged by the user. By default, floppy drives are not accessed. Checking the option will allow access to floppy drives. (Even if this option is un-checked, there may still be rare scenarios where the operating system may try to access the drives.)
Show Hidden Files: By default, hidden files are not shown or processed. If the option is checked, then hidden files will be shown and will be processed. (What type of files are hidden files depends on types of operating system used.)
User Data File: Default user data file is BackupSW.xml located in the application installation directory. This file is used to save the user Profile settings. Use this field to change the file.
Read-Lock Files: Shared read-lock is set on files during access for backup. On some system platforms, read-locks are promoted to exclusive locks. This may make other applications that are processing those files think that files were modified externally. Then those applications may attempt to reload assumed new content. If desired, locking may be turned off by un-checking this option.
Continue on Write Error: When the application encounters file write error, backup and file transfer actions are terminated for the remaining files. If this option is set, the application continues processing the remaining files. The option is disabled at installation.
Network Options:
Multiple BackupSW applications communicate with each other in client/server roles. This communication is essential for BackupSW to operate across multiple machines. Access to the server file-system is provided only for the user id that runs the BackupSW application on the server machine.
An executing BackupSW application functions as both client and server; It accesses other BackupSW as a client, and provides access to other BackupSW as a server. A BackupSW server provides access only to another BackupSW application -- access is not provided to other industry standard protocols like FTP, HTTP, etc.
Server Access Code: This password controls access to BackupSW application. This value must be set for any client/server operation to work.
Warning: Do not share Server Access Code with others and change the Server Access Code frequently for added security.
Run RMI Server: BackupSW applications communicate using Remote Method Invocation (RMI). If this option is not selected, the RMI server will not be started when the application starts. If the RMI server is not started. BackupSW will only function on local file-system, including mounted (mapped) file-systems.
RMI Registry Port: RMI Registry provides name resolution services for the BackupSW application. By default, the RMI server listens on port 1099. If another RMI Registry has to use the default port, then a different port number can be assigned to the BackupSW RMI Registry. (RMI Registry that is used by the BackupSW application cannot be shared by other applications that need RMI Registry services.)
As files are copied, the program writes a log entry indicating the execution time and the name of the file that was copied.
Log contents are shown under the Log tab and also written to a Log file. The Log file is located in the directory where the application is installed. Log files will have the extension "log". In the log window under the Log tab, only the most recent 200 Kbytes of the output data will be displayed.
Warning: Advanced Operations are not needed by a typical user. Use of Advanced Operations require good understanding of the operating system platform, such as how to execute applications via Command Line Interface and use of shell scripts.
The application can be executed from the command line using the following command format:
java -cp libraries vv.BackupSW options
Simple shell scripts for Windows, Unix, and Apple Mac OS X platforms are provided in files run.bat, run.sh, and runApple.sh respectively.
The command "java" may need to be replaced with a fully qualified path depending on where the Java platform is installed on the computer.
"libraries" are the Jar files as listed in the shell scripts (run.sh, run.bat).
"options" are the command line options to the BackSW application. Following are the valid options:
-server
With this option, the application will not run GUI and it
will not execute batch operations.
It will provide backup Destination services to other BackupSW
applications that are running
as clients.
-batch
With this option the application will execute operations
associated with each profile,
such as profile types ArchivedBackup, SynchronizedBackup, or
Tranfer.
Operations will be executed only for the Active Profiles.
-profile name
In batch-mode, only the named Profile is executed.
-fullBackup
With this option the application will create a base archive file with all the selected files and
will remove the old archives
(removal of the old archives is not guarantied on all
platforms.)
-propertiesFile
This option can be used to make the application load a
different properties file other than
the default properties file BackupSW.properties in the
installation directory.
By default, BackupSW application runs with GUI controls (a control window is displayed when the application starts.) However, the application can also run in Batch-mode, without any GUI controls. In this mode, the application will directly execute "Active" Profiles -- without prompting the user for confirmation. Profile "Type" determines what kind of operation is executed for a given Profile (one of ArchivedBackup, SynchronizedBackup, or Transfer.)
The application must either be executed with the -batch option or the property use.gui must be set to false to activate the application in Batch-mode. Properties are kept in the file BackupSW.properties. This file can be found in the application installation folder -- the file is created after the first execution of the application.
A single Profile can also be executed by giving the name of the Profile with the option "-profile filename"
The command line option "-fullBackup" will force all Profiles of type ArchivedBackup to take a complete backup of all the selected files.
By default, new Profile's Active property is initially set to false. This property must be set to true to run a Profile as part of batch operations.
Warning: Batch operation will use file selections that had been captured when the file-system view of Profiles were last refreshed. The file-system view at the time of Batch operation may be different from this old, previously captured view. This discrepancy may result in unexpected results or even loss of data.
User file selections, list of Profiles, list of Hosts, and file selections are saved in the file BackupSW.xml. This file will be created in the application installation directory when the application is executed for the first time. The XML Schema located in the file BackupSW.xsd is used as the grammar for the data file.
Warning: When updating the user data file, the application checks various data constraints. Updating this file manually via an editor may result in unexpected application behavior and loss of data.
Properties File
Application preferences are saved in the file BackupSW.properties. This file is located in the application installation directory -- the file is created after the first execution of the application. Contents of this file should not be changed manually by the user. If this file is removed, the application will recreate it with default values.
The BackupSW application can be pointed to a different properties file using the command line option -propertiesFile. The option should be given as follows: "-propertiesFile myfile.properties"
Start/End Signals in Profile
Application can generate signals when connecting to and disconnecting from file-systems. These signals can be used to trigger mount (map) and unmount actions of file-systems.
Signals are HTTP requests sent to a URL set by the user; For example before backup execution starts, the application can submit the request "http://localhost/cgi/mount?disk=D100" and server side scripts can mount the disk D100.
To set Start Signal URL and End Signal URL, select and edit the associated Profile.
Set backup destinations on devices that are different from where the original file is located. (Multiple disk partitions may not mean multiple devices. A single disk drive may be partitioned as different logical drives such as C:, D:, E:. If files are on the C: partition of the drive and if the drive fails, partitions D: and E: will not be accessible either.)
Prefer putting backups on removable devices such as USB disks, or network mounted devices that can easily be mounted on other computers for recovery. This will allow quick access to backup copies of lost data files on another computer.
Take additional backups on different devices (different than the main disk drive, and the frequent backup device). Do not keep this additional backup device mounted on the computer during normal system operation. This will reduce chances of virus type damages.
Application maintains an RMI server port for network-based operations. Even though unauthorized network access to the application is not likely, complete security cannot be guaranteed. If there are security concerns for unauthorized access, the RMI server should be turned off. The checkbox for this feature is located in the Options window accessed via Options menu item under the Tools menu.
Terminating the program abnormally may result in corrupted backup data.
In the synchronized backup mode, BackupSW application does not delete unneeded, old files from the Destination directory. Therefore the space used in the Destination file-system will grow over time. Old files and archives should be deleted if they are not needed any longer.
If for some reason application crashes (abnormally terminates), the user Profile file BackupSW.xml may get corrupted. Taking regular copies of this data file will make sure that user's file selections can be recovered.
Accessing an archive destination directory from multiple clients simultaneously may result in inaccurate archive indexes kept in the file BSWArchiveMap.xml. This may impact application assisted Recovery functionality.
Hosts configured in Profiles may not always be available on the network. In that case, application initialization may take a long time until connection attempts time out.
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