diff --git a/docs/administration-guide.rst b/docs/administration-guide.rst index f8830784..15e5a190 100644 --- a/docs/administration-guide.rst +++ b/docs/administration-guide.rst @@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ Administration Guide The administration guide. +.. todo:: either add a bit more explanation or remove the previous sentence Terminology ----------- @@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ Backup Content When doing deduplication, there are different strategies to get optimal results in terms of performance and/or deduplication rates. -Depending on the type of data, one can split data into fixed or variable +Depending on the type of data, one can split data into *fixed* or *variable* sized chunks. Fixed sized chunking needs almost no CPU performance, and is used to @@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ backup virtual machine images. Variable sized chunking needs more CPU power, but is essential to get good deduplication rates for file archives. -Therefore, the backup server supports both strategies. +The backup server supports both strategies. File Archives: ``.pxar`` @@ -29,9 +30,9 @@ File Archives: ``.pxar`` .. see https://moinakg.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/high-performance-content-defined-chunking/ -A file archive stores a whole directory tree. Content is stored using +A file archive stores a full directory tree. Content is stored using the :ref:`pxar-format`, split into variable sized chunks. The format -is specially optimized to achieve good deduplication rates. +is optimized to achieve good deduplication rates. Image Archives: ``.img`` @@ -44,8 +45,8 @@ data. Content is split into fixed sized chunks. Binary Data (BLOBs) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -This type is used to store smaller (< 16MB) binaries like -configuration data. Larger files should be stored as image archive. +This type is used to store smaller (< 16MB) binary data such as +configuration files. Larger files should be stored as image archive. .. caution:: Please do not store all files as BLOBs. Instead, use the file archive to store whole directory trees. @@ -54,15 +55,15 @@ configuration data. Larger files should be stored as image archive. Catalog File: ``catalog.pcat1`` ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -The catalog file is basically an index for file archive. It contains -the list of files, and is used to speedup search operations. +The catalog file is an index for file archives. It contains +the list of files and is used to speed-up search operations. The Manifest: ``index.json`` ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -The manifest contains the list of all backup files, including -file sizes and checksums. It is used to verify the consistency of a +The manifest contains the list of all backup files, their +sizes and checksums. It is used to verify the consistency of a backup. @@ -73,17 +74,17 @@ The backup server groups backups by *type*, where *type* is one of: ``vm`` This type is used for :term:`virtual machine`\ s. Typically - contains the virtual machine configuration and an image archive + contains the virtual machine's configuration and an image archive for each disk. ``ct`` - This type is used for :term:`container`\ s. Contains the container + This type is used for :term:`container`\ s. Contains the container's configuration and a single file archive for the container content. ``host`` - This type is used for physical host, or if you want to run backups - manually from inside virtual machines or containers. Such backups - may contain file and image archives (no restrictions here). + This type is used for backups created from within the backed up machine. + Typically this would be a physical host but could also be a virtual machine + or container. Such backups may contain file and image archives, there are no restrictions in this regard. Backup ID @@ -102,14 +103,14 @@ The time when the backup was made. Backup Group ~~~~~~~~~~~~ -We call the tuple ``/`` a backup group. Such group -may contains one or more backup snapshots. +The tuple ``/`` is called a backup group. Such a group +may contain one or more backup snapshots. Backup Snapshot ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -We call the triplet ``//