[nylug-talk] rsync daemon or ssh ?

[Chris Knadle]

On Thursday 01 May 2008, Henning Follmann wrote:
> I have a question about the nice tool rsync.
>
> I currently have two machines
> - rsync backup
> - content storage
>
> On content storage I have roughly 1.7 million files
>
> so far I start rsync via ssh on the backup system.
> rsync --rsh=ssh cs:/path /backup/path

   The transfer might be slightly faster (but more CPU intensive) if you use 
the -z option for compression.

> and that is working fine.
> Would it actually be better to start a rsync daemon on the content
> server? And what are the pros/cons of doing so?
> Would it speed up the transfer?

   IIRC the rsync daemon uses only the rsync protocol directly.  I think this 
would allow a faster transfer, but the transfer would also be unencrypted.  
If the "remote" backup you're doing is completely within a local LAN segment 
and the boxes don't get direct internet traffic (i.e. they're not in a DMZ) 
then the rsync daemon might be okay, but I wouldn't recommend it for anything 
you wanted to keep secure.

   I'm no rsync expert, this is just my $0.02.

   -- Chris

-- 

Chris Knadle
Chris.Knadle at coredump.us