[ale] Backup opinions requested

[Jonathan Meek via Ale]

Afternoon folks,

I have recently put together a Buffalo NAS device with 2TB of mirrored
storage. I am looking for opinions for setting up my desktop/laptop systems
to do backups to the NAS. They all run Solus Linux so no need to
accommodate for the other OSes for now. In the future, I might try backing
up phones and tablets but that's a ways off.

Also, thoughts on what to backup that may not be apparent on a Linux system
would be great as well.

I vaguely recall someone suggesting using local mail to incidate if a
backup succeeded or failed but I am open to options.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Jim Lynch via Ale]

I've been real happy with rdiff-backup for all my backup needs. You'll
have to script it yourself including removing old backup sets but it's
quite solid. If you need partition image backups, that's not going to
be your selection. If you want to make sure your files are backed up
it's a great solution. It's space efficient in that it only backs up
changes. If a file is unchanged nothing is stored.

But then there are lots of schemes to choose from. Everyone will have a
different opinion but that's one thing that makes this group so valuable.

Jim.

Post by Jonathan Meek via Ale
Afternoon folks,
I have recently put together a Buffalo NAS device with 2TB of mirrored
storage. I am looking for opinions for setting up my desktop/laptop
systems to do backups to the NAS. They all run Solus Linux so no need
to accommodate for the other OSes for now. In the future, I might try
backing up phones and tablets but that's a ways off.
Also, thoughts on what to backup that may not be apparent on a Linux
system would be great as well.
I vaguely recall someone suggesting using local mail to incidate if a
backup succeeded or failed but I am open to options.
Regards,
Jonathan
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[Solomon Peachy via Ale]

I've been real happy with rdiff-backup for all my backup needs. You'll have
to script it yourself including removing old backup sets but it's quite
solid. If you need partition image backups, that's not going to be your
selection. If you want to make sure your files are backed up it's a great
solution. It's space efficient in that it only backs up changes. If a file
is unchanged nothing is stored.

On the downside, it's not exactly a speed demon.

- Solomon [happy rdiff-backup user for many, many, many years now]

[Horkan Smith via Ale]

I've been satisfied w/ 'dirvish' - it's a set of scripts wrapped around the rsync --link-dest=DIR option - meaning that files that are identical between backups get hard-linked together. Dirvish handles the scheduling, naming conventions, cleanup, etc.

That lets me maintain complete, restorable images in each backup tree, but only use the space for new or changed files. It takes more space than the rdiff approach because it'll store a whole new copy of a file even if only a byte changed, but it can be examined and restored using normal filesystem tools. It takes less space than a full copy, but isn't quite as safe.

I have 3 'server' or 'workstation' grade drives that I rotate through an external drive chassis at (sadly irregular) intervals for more physical copies.

later!
horkan

Post by Jonathan Meek via Ale
Afternoon folks,
I have recently put together a Buffalo NAS device with 2TB of mirrored
storage. I am looking for opinions for setting up my desktop/laptop systems
to do backups to the NAS. They all run Solus Linux so no need to
accommodate for the other OSes for now. In the future, I might try backing
up phones and tablets but that's a ways off.
Also, thoughts on what to backup that may not be apparent on a Linux system
would be great as well.
I vaguely recall someone suggesting using local mail to incidate if a
backup succeeded or failed but I am open to options.
Regards,
Jonathan
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[Jonathan Meek via Ale]

Thanks for the input guys! I ended going with deja-dup, which uses
duplicitiy on the backend for the two systems.

I will let you all know how it goes when I do restore from it next week
since we all know backups are useless if you can't restore from them.

Post by Horkan Smith via Ale
I've been satisfied w/ 'dirvish' - it's a set of scripts wrapped around
the rsync --link-dest=DIR option - meaning that files that are identical
between backups get hard-linked together. Dirvish handles the scheduling,
naming conventions, cleanup, etc.
That lets me maintain complete, restorable images in each backup tree, but
only use the space for new or changed files. It takes more space than the
rdiff approach because it'll store a whole new copy of a file even if only
a byte changed, but it can be examined and restored using normal filesystem
tools. It takes less space than a full copy, but isn't quite as safe.
I have 3 'server' or 'workstation' grade drives that I rotate through an
external drive chassis at (sadly irregular) intervals for more physical
copies.
later!
horkan

Post by Jonathan Meek via Ale
Afternoon folks,
I have recently put together a Buffalo NAS device with 2TB of mirrored
storage. I am looking for opinions for setting up my desktop/laptop systems
to do backups to the NAS. They all run Solus Linux so no need to
accommodate for the other OSes for now. In the future, I might try backing
up phones and tablets but that's a ways off.
Also, thoughts on what to backup that may not be apparent on a Linux system
would be great as well.
I vaguely recall someone suggesting using local mail to incidate if a
backup succeeded or failed but I am open to options.
Regards,
Jonathan

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--
Horkan Smith

[James Sumners via Ale]

I was going to suggest duplicity itself. I really don't know anything
better outside of simply rsyncing everything.

Post by Jonathan Meek via Ale
Thanks for the input guys! I ended going with deja-dup, which uses
duplicitiy on the backend for the two systems.
I will let you all know how it goes when I do restore from it next week
since we all know backups are useless if you can't restore from them.

Post by Horkan Smith via Ale
I've been satisfied w/ 'dirvish' - it's a set of scripts wrapped around
the rsync --link-dest=DIR option - meaning that files that are identical
between backups get hard-linked together. Dirvish handles the scheduling,
naming conventions, cleanup, etc.
That lets me maintain complete, restorable images in each backup tree,
but only use the space for new or changed files. It takes more space than
the rdiff approach because it'll store a whole new copy of a file even if
only a byte changed, but it can be examined and restored using normal
filesystem tools. It takes less space than a full copy, but isn't quite as
safe.
I have 3 'server' or 'workstation' grade drives that I rotate through an
external drive chassis at (sadly irregular) intervals for more physical
copies.
later!
horkan

Post by Jonathan Meek via Ale
Afternoon folks,
I have recently put together a Buffalo NAS device with 2TB of mirrored
storage. I am looking for opinions for setting up my desktop/laptop systems
to do backups to the NAS. They all run Solus Linux so no need to
accommodate for the other OSes for now. In the future, I might try backing
up phones and tablets but that's a ways off.
Also, thoughts on what to backup that may not be apparent on a Linux system
would be great as well.
I vaguely recall someone suggesting using local mail to incidate if a
backup succeeded or failed but I am open to options.
Regards,
Jonathan

_______________________________________________

Post by Jonathan Meek via Ale
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--
Horkan Smith

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