Data Backups

We tried to use a Ronja link for backing up 32 gigabytes of data, then reinstalling the operating system on the source computer and shoving the 32GB of data back. The link ran continuously for almost 8 hours and it took also 8 hours to copy the data back.

During this period the link was loaded to 100% while being still used for ordinary activities (web browsing, e-mail reading, ssh). The load was not noticeable on the response of the link.

This is caused by the fact that Ronja, as opposed to most radio system, behaves like a wired Ethernet and is full duplex. The limit of filling is sharp and fixed, there is no random variation like with CSMA/CA used in WiFi. Therefore TCP protocol can use the link to 100% without increasing the latency of other concurrent connections perceivably.

Thanks to these properties, Ronja is suitable for doing regular backups of a harddisk in one building to another building. If the data in one building become inaccessible (power outage) or destroyed (fire, flood, theft), up-to-date data are still available in the other building.