Not your usual airgap/offline repository question - backup on vessel

[another_fine_maze]

Heya folx,

I had a bit of a challenging one recently. I needed to design something for a backup environment out of my usual comfort zone. It's a marine freight company. Each small container vessel has a handful of VMware VMs on a couple of hosts, and a few physical servers that need to be protected, running multiple backups per day. Short retentions: 31 days. They do the occasional recovery of data while the vessel is at sea.

The next requirement was that there must be a secondary copy of the data that is not on the vessel. This makes sense. Who wouldn't want that? As we saw in the states with the USS Bonhomme Richard, you never know what's going to happen to a ship.

Here's the kicker: There are no onboard communications capable of handling a datastream to copy those backups while the vessel is at sea. No capable satellite links. The vessels are on a regular run...every thursday (for instance) they are guaranteed to be in port. The port in question has data connections to each vessel (be it cabled or wireless). So they want all the local backups copied to a second repository that is not always connected. They are ok with a RPO of several days if they lose their on-vessel environment for whatever reason.

I went down the path of putting a VBR on each vessel, a local repository to handle their time at sea and then some, in case they get delayed to port, and a backup copy job that runs every Thursday to a repository on shore. VBR will complain about a repository not being available whenever the ship isn't in port, but it will see the repo every Thursday. The backup copy job will fire, and away it goes...

I submitted the idea, it was accepted. However, I like to second guess myself apparently. Can anyone think of a better way of handling a requirement where a secondary copy goes to a repository that is often unavailable?

[HannesK]

Hello,
and welcome to the forums.

I added "backup on vessel" to the headline to make it easier for other readers.

For the backup copy job: sounds okay for me. The backup copy job can deal with it. Which mode are you using? Mirror or periodic?

Yes, I have heard of secondary copy on ships, oil platforms etc. from several customers. Without internet link, they often have a second place on the ship where they copy data to. Depending on the amount of data, even USB media (rotated drive checkbox) might be an option.

Best regards,
Hannes

[nitramd]

An advantage to rotated USB drives is that they'll be offline and secured at some point. The disadvantage is the drives are still onboard.

But then you'd be following the 3-2-1 paradigm.

An interesting problem here.

[another_fine_maze]

Thanks! Long time listener, first time caller.

I submitted it as periodic, but I can see the value in mirrored as well.

I've done the really remote stuff before, oilsands camps in northern canada... but they always had some constant connection to home base, so to speak. Might have been slow and expensive, but it was there. First time I've had to deal with /no/ connection most of the time.... but a need to be offloaded all the same.

Data isn't much. I think the largest dataset on a vessel is 3 terabytes (and not all of that needs to be protected)

Hello,
and welcome to the forums.

I added "backup on vessel" to the headline to make it easier for other readers.

For the backup copy job: sounds okay for me. The backup copy job can deal with it. Which mode are you using? Mirror or periodic?

Yes, I have heard of secondary copy on ships, oil platforms etc. from several customers. Without internet link, they often have a second place on the ship where they copy data to. Depending on the amount of data, even USB media (rotated drive checkbox) might be an option.

Best regards,
Hannes

[wishr]

Maybe I'm crazy but the first thing that came to my mind was a marine drone carrying a copy of data to the shore

[Gostev]

I guess less technologically advanced solution would be to just keep tape backups on a buoy with the GPS tracker, and have that buoy sitting on a safe part of the deck (where no fires or explosions are possible). This can be further improved with the automatic release system in case of a fire alarm. If the vessel sinks, the buoy will be very easy to locate. Or, in case of a false alarm, it will be easy to pick back up.

But this is not a good solution for military vessels obviously, as it may be destroyed by weaponry.

[nitramd]

Maybe I'm crazy but the first thing that came to my mind was a marine drone carrying a copy of data to the shore

@wishr,

If Amazon can delivery packages via drones, a.k.a. Prime Air, than you're not far off of the mark: https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Air ... 8037720011

Pretty cool videos of delivery drones in action; the video with Jeremy Clarkson is hilarious but it makes a point.

So, marine drones? Why not?

[another_fine_maze]

Looks like this project is moving forward, so I'll update this on how (if) this works out.

[davidwatts71]

in a couple of years you should be able to use Elon's Starlink

[PTide]

@another_fine_maze,

I wonder whether an equivalent of "When backup target is connected" scheduling option (if it existed in BCJ settings) would address the problem?

Thanks!