[wp-hackers] GSoC Idea

[Stas Sușcov]

În data de Mi, 23-03-2011 la 08:33 +0530, Piyush Mishra a scris:
> Thats something :)
> About backing up WP, the user will need to have another server which stores
> the data.
> (We can do it for the same server also but in that case alien attacks,
> server crashes, exploits which wipe out data (Like the one I had :( ) and
> natural disasters in server location wont save the user)
> and almost defeat the purpose of the plugin.

I didn't deny that I would need an external machine, but as I already
mentioned, that one doesn't have to be from Amazon/Rackspace/Dropbox
with their proprietary software on it.

> Not many people have a server and php installed and configured on local so
> either we give them a readymade installer and clear instructions to set one
> up at home or we make them buy another hosting package (cloud / VCS host /
> otherwise)

Believe me, a lot have. And If I want, I can setup a machine for me and
my friends, that still will be cheaper/free for them compared to
existing solutions available now.

> I am totally in for the versioning system and probably push to a private
> repo on github or the like in other VCS. but the problem there is not all
> hosts have any version control system installed, let alone a specific one.
> 

The versioning system I mentioned is git, because it's very easy to
setup one, and git's protocol and features are rock solid. Plus it has
wrappers in a lot of popular languages.

Also you missed the whole point of this thread, it's not about the
server, versioning, and how you will do things, it's about one click
backup, automated *delta* increment backup (you backup only what
changed, so you can see what changed easily), and one click restore.

> A really cool project would be making one with the Diff class and md5 hash
> :) (Template versioning extended?)

Your approach means you will have to write a whole layer for
transporting the resulted diff with it's hashes (which means we go one
step back and need to write more code, not cool!). Plus md5 hashes as a
way of checking files is far from being the best compared to let's say
sha1 used in a git/hg revision system. Plus md5 will kill your server if
you will have to check a poll of several big files and it will require
you to write a queueing system and so on... just KISS.

> But for keeping WP backed up and up to date with its backups, we'll need
> objects and files flying to the backup server. (daily / hourly cron??)
> 

Which is what for exist `wp_cron()`;

> Another option to consider here is use of (html5) localstorage? ( If I
> remember correctly we had some firefox extension for offline access right?)
> 

No we don't. Last used technology, was Google Gears, which was removed
long time ago. Plus, I'm talking about some rock solid backup solution,
not a temporary one. html5 storage is only good for client side
caching/temporary data storage.

> On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 7:19 AM, Stas Sușcov <stas at nerd.ro> wrote:
> 
> > Hey,
> > I was reading latest conversations about possible ideas for this GSoC,
> > and thought I could ask about a project I would like to have in
> > WordPress plugins repo.
> >
> > Coming from last year idea about moving WordPress, I would love to have
> > a tool like VaultPress [1]. Basically to have this done, you will have
> > to steal, err... learn, from VaultPress project possible features, look
> > and feel. :)
> >
> > I would love to see a tool that:
> > * exports all the data, settings, theme and plugins
> > * uses some versioning backend (say git or other scm, I think I don't
> > have to explain what would be the benefits of using this kind of
> > approach)
> > * does everything on it's own (so I won't care if the data is synced or
> > not)
> > * restores all the data with one click
> > * has triggers to send me reports if core files changed (like in case of
> > security holes from hosting providers) or other things of this kind
> >
> > In some words an OpenSource VaultPress that I will be able to set
> > (absolutely freely) on my blog, connect it with my other server in the
> > other galaxy, and don't care about `Aliens` :)
> >
> > A success story of this kind might be SparkleShare, an OpenSource
> > replacement for DropBox[2].
> >
> > Currently there are a couple of this kind of plugins that backup data to
> > Amazon/Rackspace/DropBox/Ftp, but all those hardly cover, at least, my
> > 1st requirement.
> >
> > Feedback welcome.
> >
> > [1]: http://vaultpress.com/
> > [2]: http://sparkleshare.org/
> >
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> >
> 
> 
>