[KLUG Members] LAN backup solutions, anyone?

[Dirk Bartley]

I use tar and a shell script.  My data volume is quite small I will
admit.  All the data can be put on a 20/40 dat tape twice.  So my method
will not work for everyone I'm sure.

At that small size, using tar to get one requested file or directory is
still quite impractical do to tar's lack of indexing.  So I write
multiple succesive files to a tape in a loop going through a list of
directories to backup.  It has evolved extensively over time and now
uses lvm snapshots for each partition that it backs up from.

To accomplish the backups of data held on desktop windows, I use smbtar
in a script run earlier than the actual backup to tape.  This way if
there is any difficulty with smbtar, the backup will still run.

To accomplish the backups of data held on laptop windows, I use rsync.
During login, the user is asked for an ssh passphrase and rsync does the
rest and usually completes in 10-30 seconds because it only copies over
diffs of the modified files.

To accomplish the backups of linux machies without the tape drive, I use
rsync there as well.

Most all of the backed up data is stored on a large ide drive on a
machine with the tape drive.  This way, the backup runs without the risk
of a network resource not being available or having some other
difficulty.  Works as long as the drive works.  ( it has died on me
once)

If I for some reason forget to put the tape in some day, no worry,  Just
rerun in the morning.  Won't slow anyone down because that machine is
not a server of any other service other than faxing.

Soon I won't be using this method.  We purchased some package called
novaback or something and I'm waiting till it is used in the other parts
of the corporation until I deploy it.

Not elegant but it works.  I've pulled from backup more than a few times
without issue.  The only issue was I had to document the hell out of it
so that someone else can do it if I am on vacation.  If you want, I can
make the work I've done available.

Dirk

On Thu, 2005-05-19 at 20:59 -0500, Robert G. Brown wrote:
> If you are doing backups on a regular basis on a mixed Linux/Unix/Windows
> LAN, I'd like to see something about your experience and favorites tools,
> techniques, etc. What works best for you? Have any expensive and time-
> consuming failures? What do we get? What do we avoid?
> 
> Thanks in advance to any/all participants...
> 							Regards,
> 							---> RGB <---
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