Orthanc backup

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1

Hi Folks,

Just wanted to confirm I have everything backing up properly. As I understand all I should need is the following:

Index DIR
Image DIR
Config File(s)

Backup Procedure

Option 1 - Offline backup

1- Stop Orthanc
2- Replicate\backup files listed above
3- Start Orthanc

Also, what are the realistic limits using sqlite over a true SQL database? If I were to do an online backup using the sqlite backup I assume this grabs everything in the index folder and the images (dicomstorage) would still need to be copied separately?

Thanks!

Jim

2

Hello,

Just wanted to confirm I have everything backing up properly. As I
understand all I should need is the following:

Index DIR
Image DIR
Config File(s)

Yes. Note that the image directory is called StorageDirectory and is
often the same as the IndexDirectory.

Backup Procedure

Option 1 - Offline backup

1- Stop Orthanc
2- Replicate\backup files listed above
3- Start Orthanc

That would work perfectly.

Also, what are the realistic limits using sqlite over a true SQL
database? If I were to do an online backup using the sqlite backup I
assume this grabs everything in the index folder and the images
(dicomstorage) would still need to be copied separately?

In theory SQLite guarantees atomicity and uncommitted changes should
not impact data integrity. Similarly Orthanc's storage is content-
addressed and uses immutable objects, and as such should provide data
integrity on its own.

I still wouldn't recommend doing online backup from under Orthanc.
Instead, consider transferring the data via Orthanc's HTTP API.

Best regards,

3

Hello,

The backup procedure is explained in the Orthanc Book:
http://book.orthanc-server.com/users/backup.html

Similarly, replication of one Orthanc server onto another Orthanc server is explained in this section:
http://book.orthanc-server.com/users/replication.html#generic-replication

It is advised to switch to PostgreSQL as soon as you are in an enterprise scenario, or as the number of DICOM instances gets larger than about 50,000 (rule of thumb):
http://book.orthanc-server.com/faq/troubleshooting.html?highlight=sqlite#performance-issues

You cannot safely do a hot backup of a SQLite database. If you need hot backup, either run the replication procedure (which uses the REST API), or switch to a PostgreSQL database.

HTH,
Sébastien-