[Box Backup] Controlling rate in lazy mode

[Ben Summers]

On 8 Oct 2004, at 11:01, Per Thomsen wrote:

> On 10/8/04 1:13 AM, Ben Summers wrote:
>
>>
>> On 8 Oct 2004, at 08:40, Adrian Cox wrote:
>>
>>> I'm using boxbackup on three Debian boxes. I've found that lazy mode 
>>> is
>>> really more like hyperactive mode, and the continual churning of the
>>> disks has a noticeable effect on interactive use of the machine.
>>>
>>> I can cure the problem by switching to snapshot mode and running 
>>> nightly
>>> snapshots. But I do like the concept of lazy mode, and it would be
>>> useful to be able to throttle the rate of disk I/O. Any suggestions 
>>> as
>>> to how I could do that?
>>
>>
>> I assume you're running it over a LAN connection, so it can go as 
>> fast as it wants? I'm surprised that one process can hog your machine 
>> so much though.
>>
>> Eventually I plan to add in rate limiting, so you can restrict the 
>> amount of bandwidth it uses. And on a timed basis, so you can 
>> throttle it right down during the working day and let it rip during 
>> the night.
>> [snip]
>
> I back up 5 machines at this point (2 in snapshot mode, and 3 in 
> lazy), and I'm not seeing anything like this. I will say that the 
> machine that's running bbstored is a server with no interactive users, 
> so I can't say if there would be any effect on the responsiveness of 
> the machine.
>
> About the question: What about the 'UpdateStoreInterval', 
> 'MinimumFileAge', and 'MaxUploadWait' parameters in bbackupd.conf? 
> Couldn't those be used to change the rate at which the clients are 
> uploading stuff?

These will only adjust the times between the activity of the daemon, 
and not affect it when it's actually scanning the discs.

>
> I do think an I/O throttle is a good idea, don't get me wrong.

Yes, but it's more to avoid swamping an internet connection while 
people are working, rather than working around issues with your OS 
failing to arbitrate between processes properly.

Ben