Proxmox Backup Server 3.4 has been released, built on Debian 12.10 and utilizing the Linux kernel 6.8.12-9 as the stable default, with kernel 6.14 available as an opt-in option. The update enhances garbage collection (GC) performance, facilitating quicker and more efficient garbage collection processes. The server facilitates precise backup snapshot selection for synchronization tasks, thereby enhancing data security. The server can now generate file-level backups for various Linux hosts, utilizing a newly developed statically linked binary. The update enhances throughput for tape backup by augmenting the number of worker threads utilized when reading chunks during the tape backup process. The server is fully compatible with the latest open-source technologies and integrates effortlessly into the Proxmox Virtual Environment.
Proxmox Backup Server 3.4 released!
Thanks to our amazing community, we’re rolling out our newest software update for Proxmox Backup Server 3.4. Your feedback has been instrumental in shaping these improvements. This version is based on Debian 12.10 ("Bookworm") but uses the Linux kernel 6.8.12-9 as stable default and kernel 6.14 as opt-in, and comes with ZFS 2.2.7 with compatibility patches for Kernel 6.14.
Highlights in Proxmox Backup Server 3.4
- Optimized Performance for Garbage Collection (GC): To increase storage efficiency through deduplication, backup data in Proxmox Backup Server is saved as chunks. In order to free up storage space after backup snapshots have been deleted, a garbage collection (GC) process identifies and cleans up unreferenced backup data chunks. This version 3.4 optimizes the GC mechanism and integrates a cache to reduce the number of expensive file metadata updates. While this enhancement increases memory usage, it substantially reduces execution time, resulting in faster and more efficient garbage collection. The caching mechanism can be fine-tuned on a per-datastore basis.
- Granular backup snapshot selection for sync jobs: Offsite backups are of great interest for data security and therefore Proxmox Backup Server provides sync jobs to push or pull backup snapshots to and from remote Proxmox Backup Server instances. Group filters already allow the selection of which backup groups should be synchronized. In this latest version, the selection functionality has been extended to allow exclusive synchronization of encrypted or verified backup snapshots.
- Static build of Proxmox Backup client: While Proxmox Backup Server is tightly integrated with Proxmox VE, its command-line client can also be used outside of Proxmox VE. A new statically-linked binary of the command-line client makes it easier to create file-level backups of arbitrary Linux hosts.
- Increased throughput for tape backup: Since version 3.4, Proxmox Backup Server now allows to increase the number of worker threads when reading chunks during tape backup, which can significantly increase the throughput in certain setups.
- Latest versions of open-source technologies: This version is based on Debian 12.10 (“Bookworm”), but uses a newer Linux kernel 6.8.12-9 and includes ZFS 2.2.7 (with compatibility patches for Kernel 6.14). While the kernel 6.8.12-9 is the stable default, Linux kernel 6.14 can optionally be installed for better support of the latest hardware.
Proxmox Backup Server seamlessly integrates into Proxmox Virtual Environment—users just need to add a datastore of Proxmox Backup Server as a new storage backup target to Proxmox VE.
