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Re: Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?)

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Kenny McCormack <gazelle@shell.xmission.com> wrote:
> I've recently done a large file copy between two Linux-ish machines, using
> rsync.  It all went well, so no worries, but it made me wonder about
> some things.
> 
> There are 3 ways that rsync can be setup to make the connection to the
> remote machine:
> 
>     1) Using something like remotehost:/path/to/wherever
>     as the destination.
> 
>     2) Running rsyncd on the remote host and connecting to that.
> 
>     3) Mounting the remote machine using sshfs (or similar, like NFS,
>     Samba, or whatever else you might think of).  Then you can just do a
>     normal-looking (it looks like a local-to-local) copy.
> 
> I usually use method 3, as it is the most flexible, since you can easily
> check the contents of the target system while the copy is going on and
> other things.  I use sshfs, because it is the easiest to setup and requires
> no server side setup (other than an ssh server).
> 
> So, my questions boil down to:
> 
>     1) Is there any (significant) difference in performance between the 3
>     methods?

Yes.  sshfs runs through fuse, and fuse has significant overhead vs. 
having access to the actual destination filesystem (which is what 
methods 1 and 2 give the rsync deamon at the other end).

>     2) How exactly does method 1 work?  What do you need on the server side
>     for it to work?  I know the answer is (or should be) "just an ssh
>     server", but not all ssh servers are created equal.  I think it may

You need to be able to:

1) ssh to the destination machine, as the user that will be writing the 
files to the filesystem on the destination machine.  

2) rsync installed on the destination machine.


Your local rsync will launch a "slave" rsync, via ssh, on the 
destination machine to handle the remote end of the transfer.

Now, if the destination machine is Linux/Unix, and it has rsync 
installed (this is usual unless you go out of your way to "trim" down 
the installation) the only requirement is to setup ssh access (either 
by ssh keys (preferred) or allowing ssh password logins (will work, but 
setting up ssh keys is much more convient and more secure).

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Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?) gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2026-08-25 00:27 +0000
  Re: Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?) Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-08-25 02:26 +0000
    Re: Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?) gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2026-08-25 07:18 +0000
      Re: Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?) "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-25 11:50 +0200
        Re: Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-25 12:33 +0100
      Re: Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?) Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-08-25 17:07 +0000
        Re: Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?) gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2026-08-25 18:02 +0000
        Re: Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?) The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-25 20:14 +0100
      Re: Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?) Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-08-25 17:34 +0000
  Re: Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?) c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> - 2026-08-25 03:03 -0400
    Re: Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?) "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-08-25 11:53 +0200
      Re: Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?) Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2026-08-25 17:29 +0000
  Re: Question about rsync operational modes - which is best? (Or are they all the same?) Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam2616@zugschl.us> - 2026-08-25 10:20 +0200

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