Advantages of Open Source Backup Approach

Open Source does not use proprietary tools and data layouts when backing up the data. Open Source uses tar, dump, or Schilly tar as backup tools. These are readily available, industry-standard tools. Their specification and data layouts have been stable for many years, with the promise that this will continue.

One of the examples of Open Source Backup software is Amanda. Amanda adds value to these tools by providing several features:
- Amanda keeps an index of files for ease of recovery.
- Amanda provides its own toolset for recovering files. These tools provide ease of use and index navigation.
- It automates the running of the standard tools.
- Amanda can send the output of the standard tools across the network to a centralized backup server.
- The output of several backup clients, using the standardized tools, can be written to tape on the backup server.
- Additionally, data from Amanda dumps can be restored without the use of any Amanda commands.