Remote repositories (send/receive/list archive support)

Remote repositories

Summary

Support for remote repositories (e.g., storing or retrieving files/block devices over SSH, S3, or HTTP) is a planned feature of blk-archive, but not yet implemented. Before committing to a specific milestone, we need alpha release feedback to assess how urgent this feature is for real-world use cases.

The design for remote repository support should be finalized, but actual implementation may be postponed depending on feedback.

📌 Related design work is being tracked in PR #1.

Goals

• Gather feedback from alpha users on whether remote repository support is a blocking need
• Finalize the design for how remote repositories will be configured, accessed, and authenticated
• Define protocol, fallback behavior, error handling, and performance considerations
• Make implementation timeline dependent on urgency expressed by users

Tasks

• Draft and review design for remote repository support
• Document intended remote transport options (e.g., SSH, S3, HTTP, custom protocols)
• Determine how to configure remotes (e.g., CLI flags, config files)
• Identify expected use cases (e.g., backups over WAN, remote de-duplication)
• Get feedback from early adopters on urgency and blockers
• Defer implementation to a later release if demand is not warranted

Questions for Users

• Is remote support needed now, or can it wait until a later release?
• What protocols do you expect to use (e.g., SSL, ssh tunnel, object storage)?
• Do you expect full remote access (read + write), or read-only (e.g., for restoration)?

Design Considerations

• Bandwidth efficiency
• Authentication and encryption
• Retry behavior, resume support
• Read-only vs. read-write remotes
• Compatibility with local caching

Benefits

• Enables distributed or cloud-based archive storage
• Supports multi-location de-duplication workflows
• Improves flexibility for backups, archiving, and disaster recovery

This is a large feature and will likely need multiple sub-issues for full implementation