[lug] large file management

[Jeffrey S. Haemer]

Unison isn't actively supported. Would DRBD help?


On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 3:24 PM, Davide Del Vento <
davide.del.vento at gmail.com> wrote:

> I have a large number of fairly large files (spoiler alert: the
> digital pictures of a lifetime). The collection is growing, mostly but
> not only by append. I have three copies onsite, and would like to add
> a forth copy offsite. Two of the copies are actively edited
> (occasionally, but the frequency doesn't matter), and often appended.
> The third (and forth) copy is just for backup.
>
> Managing such a collection of files is becoming a nightmare. Consider
> some scenarios:
>
> Some files are added to Copy 1 (my laptop) taken from the SD card of
> the camera in a hurry. No synch is done with the other copies at this
> time, because I have to run out of the door to take pictures of the
> kids.
>
> Some files are deleted in Copy 2 (e.g. by my wife) because they were
> out of focus, blurred, not worth keeping. No synch is done with the
> other copies at this time, either.
>
> Some (old) files are deleted in Copy 2 (e.g. by myself) because we run
> out of space in the laptop.
>
> Then, one is in the process of rsynch'ing the 3 copies and my rsynch
> workflow (discussed on this list some time ago, IIRC) breaks. Not that
> it was particularly good anyway, having to know "off channel" what
> happened to which copy before I could fire a reasonable command....
> Since I'm reading my swag at the BLUG (Cliff Stoll's "Silicon Snake
> Oil", but that's the subject for another post), I'm tempted to say
> "computers are crap", let my mother ship me my old film cameras and
> lenses from the early 80s (or maybe buying them here for cheap) and
> stop at that. Heck those cameras worked even without batteries!
>
> Instead I say: there must be a better way. I mean, we solve this very
> same problem (for text files) zillions of times a day, don't we? But
> for large binaries, I can't just throw [git|hg|svn] at it and be
> happy. As mentioned in the scenario, at least on one machine space is
> tight. Yes, space is getting cheaper and the like, but: a) I don't
> have any money to buy a disk for that laptop and b) there is no reason
> to keep a copy of some pictures from a trip in 2003 on it anyway. And
> I am not even sure [git|hg|svn] is the right tool for the job.
>
> So googling around I found http://code.google.com/p/boar/ and
> http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/index.html and I ask: has
> any of you tried either? Or anything other piece of software worth
> trying for this purpose?
>
> Cheers,
> Davide
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-- 
Jeffrey Haemer <jeffrey.haemer at gmail.com>
720-837-8908 [cell], http://seejeffrun.blogspot.com [blog],
http://www.youtube.com/user/goyishekop [vlog]
*פרייהייט? דאס איז יאַנג דינען וואָרט.*
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