Accessing the powerful Btrfs snapshot features with Snapper
Conclusions
The Snapper snapshot tool is a valuable helper on systems subject to continuous change. Developers and users of rolling-release distributions will be especially interested in Snapper's ability to simplify and optimize the snapshot functions available through Btrfs.
If you run a stable system and do not install large amounts of software every day, you should consider the overhead caused by Snapper. In some situations, you might want to disable the snapshots created every hour via cron and only use automated snapshots when you install or update.
The stability of Btrfs is an important factor. During my tests, Snapper created more than 100 snapshots, both automatically and manually, on three operating systems. Btrfs and Snapper were stable throughout the tests, and I didn't experience any errors. However, you should bear in mind that Snapper is not designed as a substitute for pervasive backups.
Infos
- Btrfs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Btrfs
- ZFS: http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZFS
- Snapper on Arch: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Snapper#Create_a_new_configuration
- Snapper configuration: http://snapper.io/manpages/snapper-configs.html
- SUSE documentation on Snapper: https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles-12/book_sle_admin/data/sec_snapper_config.html
- Man page for Snapper: http://snapper.io/manpages/snapper.html
- Rolling back files: https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles11/book_sle_admin/data/sec_snapper_auto.html
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