docs/introduction.rst

   1 Introduction
   2 ============
   3
   4 This documentationm is written in :term:`reStructuredText` and formatted with :term:`Sphinx`.
   5
   6
   7 What is Proxmox Backup
   8 ----------------------
   9
  10 Proxmox Backup is an enterprise class client-server backup software,
  11 specially optimized for `Proxmox Virtual Environment`_ to backup
  12 :term:`virtual machine`\ s and :term:`container`\ s. It is also
  13 possible to backup physical hosts.
  14
  15 It supports deduplication, compression and authenticated encryption
  16 (AE_). Using RUST_ as implementation language guarantees high
  17 performance, low resource usage, and a safe, high quality code base.
  18
  19 Encryption is done at the client side. This makes backups to not fully
  20 trusted targets possible.
  21
  22
  23 Architecture
  24 ------------
  25
  26 Proxmox Backup uses a `Client-server model`_. The server is
  27 responsible to store the backup data, and provides an API to create
  28 backups and restore data. It is also possible to manage disks and
  29 other server side resources using this API.
  30
  31 A backup client uses this API to access the backed up data,
  32 i.e. ``proxmox-backup-client`` is a command line tool to create
  33 backups and restore data. We also deliver an integrated client for
  34 QEMU_ with `Proxmox Virtual Environment`_.
  35
  36
  37 Main features
  38 -------------
  39
  40 :Proxmox VE: The `Proxmox Virtual Environment`_ is fully
  41    supported. You can backup :term:`virtual machine`\ s and
  42    :term:`container`\ s.
  43
  44 :GUI: We provide a graphical, web based user interface.
  45
  46 :Deduplication: Incremental backup produces large amounts of duplicate
  47    data. The deduplication layer removes that redundancy and makes
  48    inkremental backup small and space efficient.
  49
  50 :Data Integrity: The built in `SHA-256`_ checksum algorithm assures the
  51    accuray and consistency of your backups.
  52
  53 :Remote Sync: It is possible to efficently synchronize data to remote
  54    sites. Only deltas containing new data are transfered.
  55
  56 :Performance: The whole software stack is written in :term:`Rust`,
  57    which provides high speed and memory efficiency.
  58
  59 :Compression: Ultra fast Zstandard_ compression is able to compress
  60    several gigabytes of data per second.
  61
  62 :Encryption: Backups can be encrypted at client side using AES-256 in
  63    GCM_ mode. This authenticated encryption mode (AE_) provides very
  64    high performance on modern hardware.
  65
  66 :Open Source: No secrets. You have access to the whole source tree.
  67
  68 :Support: Commercial support options available from `Proxmox`_.
  69
  70
  71 Why Backup?
  72 -----------
  73
  74 The primary purpose of backup is to protect against data loss. Data
  75 loss can happen because of faulty hardware, but also by human errors.
  76
  77 A common mistake is to delete a file or folder which is still
  78 required. Virtualization can amplify this problem, because it is now
  79 easy to delete a whole virtual machine by a single button press.
  80
  81 Backups can also serve as a toolkit for administrators to temporarily
  82 store data. For example, it is common practice to perform full backups
  83 before installing major software updates. If something goes wrong, you
  84 can just restore the previous state.
  85
  86 Another reason for backups are legal requirements. Some data must be
  87 kept in a safe place for several years so that you can access it if
  88 required by law.
  89
  90
  91 - value of data, importance for your business, legal regulations
  92
  93 - restore tests. to make sure backup/restore works
  94
  95
  96 Software Stack
  97 --------------
  98
  99 .. todo:: Eplain why we use RUST (and Flutter)
 100
 101
 102 License
 103 -------
 104
 105 Copyright (C) 2019 Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH
 106
 107 This software is written by Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH <support@proxmox.com>
 108
 109 Proxmox Backup is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 110 it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
 111 published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
 112 License, or (at your option) any later version.
 113
 114 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
 115 ``WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY``; without even the implied warranty of
 116 ``MERCHANTABILITY`` or ``FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE``.  See the GNU
 117 Affero General Public License for more details.
 118
 119 You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
 120 along with this program.  If not, see AGPL3_.
 121
 122
 123 History
 124 -------
 125
 126 .. todo:: Add development History of the product
 127