Back in August 2019, a project called Plakar began to take shape. Initially an experiment, it was developed by Gilles Chehade as a personal response to dissatisfaction with existing backup solutions. While many backup tools promise reliability and ease, they often come with limitations that become apparent at scale. Plakar aimed to address these issues head-on, focusing on simplicity, speed, and flexibility. Let’s dive into what makes Plakar unique and its evolution over time.
Why Plakar?#
Plakar was conceived out of a desire for a more lightweight, flexible, and scalable backup solution. Existing backup systems either felt overly complex or couldn’t handle large datasets efficiently without consuming tons of resources. Most required expensive servers to run or were riddled with features that were unnecessary for everyday backups.
Plakar’s core goal from the outset was simple: build a fast and efficient backup tool that anyone can run, even on modest hardware. It was born out of frustration but quickly grew into a fully-fledged project that promised a better way to think about backups.
The Design Philosophy#
At its core, Plakar took inspiration from Git’s repository model. Just like Git tracks changes in code repositories over time, Plakar tracks snapshots of a filesystem. However, it avoids some of the bloat and complexity associated with Git for backup use cases.
- Filesystem Snapshot Model: Plakar takes snapshots of the file system, storing only the differences between snapshots (much like a version control system). This allows for fast incremental backups without having to re-copy unchanged data.
- Data Deduplication: One of the standout features in Plakar’s design is deduplication, which means that identical data across multiple snapshots is only stored once. This is crucial for large datasets, where redundancy can quickly bloat storage.
- Designed for Modesty: Unlike heavyweight solutions that demand significant resources, Plakar was built to run on modest hardware. Whether you’re backing up to a small NAS or a low-powered server, Plakar’s design ensures that the system is both efficient and lean.
Evolution Over Time#
What began as an experiment quickly matured into a more feature-complete solution. Gilles emphasized that Plakar is not a one-size-fits-all solution—it doesn’t try to be a full-featured, all-encompassing backup system. Instead, Plakar focuses on doing one thing well: efficiently managing backups on a local or remote system.
At the heart of Plakar’s success is its incremental development process, where each new feature added is carefully considered for its real-world utility. From deduplication and delta snapshotting to its Git-like model for managing files, Plakar’s progression is marked by a constant desire to simplify and improve the backup process.
The Road Ahead#
While Plakar has come a long way since its early days, there’s always more work to be done. Future plans for Plakar include improved repository handling and support for additional storage backends, making it even more flexible.
The core philosophy, however, remains the same: keep it simple, keep it fast, and keep it lightweight. Whether you’re running backups on a massive data center or a small home server, Plakar’s minimalist design ensures that it can scale and adapt to your needs without unnecessary complexity.
In short, Plakar has grown from an experimental tool into a reliable and efficient backup solution for those who value simplicity, performance, and flexibility. Whether you’re protecting your personal data or managing large-scale backups, Plakar is designed to make that process as smooth and resource-friendly as possible.
Stay tuned for more updates as Plakar continues to evolve!