Bacula Systems is now the commercial arm for the popular open-source backup product Bacula. “It roams the datacenter at night and sucks the vital essence from your computers.” I’m not making that up. This is the second open-source backup product to do such, with Zmanda preceding them. Click Read More to see what I think about this.
Short version: I think it’s great!
When Zmanda went commercial, the funding they provided fixed a few long-running complaints in Amanda. Amanda had been around for years and they still couldn’t back up anything that didn’t fit on a tape. Enter Zmanda and poof! Problem fixed. Amazing what a little money can do for an open-source project.
Now Bacula Systems has joined the fray as of October 2008. They’re listing a team of seven on the website, but I’m sure there’s even more behind the scenes. Now you have a choice of two open-source backup products. Yum. Competition!
I reminisce back to the days when Linux first went commercial and people wondered how they would make money. Not everyone needed Linux — but everyone needs backup. So it’s only natural that there should be open-source backup software.
Another thought is that there are a whole lot of people out there whose needs could easily be served by less-expensive backup software than what they’re currently using. Both Zmanda and Bacula Systems offer these customers such an alternative. I, for one, see a very bright future for both companies.
If anyone has any experience with either company, feel free to contact me privately or put comments on this blog entry.