[CentOS] CentOS Server Backup Options

[Scott Walker]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: centos-bounces at centos.org [mailto:centos-bounces at centos.org] On
> Behalf Of Mark LaPierre
> Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2012 8:37 PM
> To: CentOS mailing list
> Subject: Re: [CentOS] CentOS Server Backup Options
> 
> On 03/11/2012 08:12 PM, Scott Walker wrote:
> > What do you guys recommend for backing up a small CentOS server in a
> > business environment.  It will have (3) 300gb drives in a raid 5 array
> > but I don't anticipate more than about 25gb of data that needs to be
> > backed up each night.
> > I want a lot of backups with a rotation scheme that included daily,
> > weekly, and monthly copies.  I want the daily copies of the data kept
> > until the next week, and the weekly copy being kept for four weeks,
> > and the monthly copies being kept for a year.
> >
> > The vendor is recommending a RD1000 Removable Disk device.  This looks
> > like it has great specs.  Each cartridge holds 160gb (non-compressed)
> > and the drive costs about $420 but seems that with each removable
> > cartridge costing $128, we may be limited to how many cartridges we
> > could have, thus perhaps not retaining backup instances as long as I
> like.
> >
> > I asked about a HP DAT160 tape drive.  Each tape holds 160gb
> > (non-compressed) and the drive costs about $730, and each tape only
> > costs about $24, so it would be economical to have lots of backup
> > instances saved for a long period of time.
> >
> > I have been using tape and the backup rotation scheme mentioned above
> > for over 20 years.  The vendor is telling me they don't recommend tape
> > drives anymore and all of their customers are using removable hard
> > drive for local backups.  Am I missing something?  My instincts tell
> > me the tape drive is the right solution for a system with a small
> > amount of data, where the system is used only from 8am - 5pm (so
> > backup speed is not critical) and where we want to save backup
> > instances for a long time before overwriting them.
> >
> > Any input would be welcomed.
> >
> >
> 
> What do you consider to be a "long time" to keep backups on hand?
> 

I like to have an archive copy of the data for each of the last twelve
months.

I also like to have an archive copy of the data for each of the last 4
years.

That way if any files get accidently deleted, I still have a backup that is
old enough to contain them.


> Tape, and tape drives, have a bad reputation.  They are difficult and time
> consuming to verify.

Indeed I've had lots of trouble with tape drives over the years.  The DAT
drives worked well when they worked but they always seemed to die after 4 or
5 years.  With the small amount of data I have to worry about (in the range
of 25 - 30gb) the time to backup to tape and verify in the middle of the
night is not a factor.

> 
> I run my backups nightly to a hard drive using rsync.  I use a directory
> named by the day of the week.  I cycle through the seven daily directories
> until the 1st of the month when I run a complete backup to an monthly
> directory.  Then for the next seven days I wipe the daily directories and
> start the cycle over again.
> 
> A couple of minor variations to this plan should work for you.  I don't
> know what your network configuration looks like so this may not apply to
> you.
> 
> Here's a peek at the logic I use.
> 
> # BUILD DATE STAMP
> Date=`date +%Y%m%d`
> echo "Date= \"$Date\""
> 
> # Rev. 5.6 start
> Day=`date +%a`
> echo "Day= \"$Day\""
> 
> DayNum=`date +%d` # Rev. 7.0
> 
> # IF THIS IS A SUNDAY USE THE CALANDAR DATE if [ "$Day" == "Sun" ];then
>          Day="$Date"
> else
>          # IF THIS IS THE 1ST OF THE MONTH USE THE CALANDAR DATE
>          if [ "$DayNum" == "01" ];then
>                  Day="$Date"
>          fi
> fi
> 
> # USE THE DAY OF THE WEEK, EXCEPT FOR SUNDAY AND THE 1ST OF THE MONTH
> WHICH IS HANDLED ABOVE, AS THE DIRECTORY NAME Date="$Day"
> 
> # Rev. 5.6 end
> 
> # REMOVE PREVIOUS $Date DIRECTORY IF THIS IS THE FIRST USE THIS MONTH #
> Rev. 7.0 ENTIRE CASE STATEMENT ADDED case $DayNum in
>      02)
>          echo "Removing /home/homebu/$Date directory"
>          rm -rf /home/homebu/$Date
>          ;;
>      03)
>          echo "Removing /home/homebu/$Date directory"
>          rm -rf /home/homebu/$Date
>          ;;
>      04)
>          echo "Removing /home/homebu/$Date directory"
>          rm -rf /home/homebu/$Date
>          ;;
>      05)
>          echo "Removing /home/homebu/$Date directory"
>          rm -rf /home/homebu/$Date
>          ;;
>      06)
>          echo "Removing /home/homebu/$Date directory"
>          rm -rf /home/homebu/$Date
>          ;;
>      07)
>          echo "Removing /home/homebu/$Date directory"
>          rm -rf /home/homebu/$Date
>          ;;
>       *)
>          echo "Old $Date directory not deleted"
>          ;;
> esac
> 
> # TRANSER FILES
> 
> 
> 
> --
>      _
>     °v°
>    /(_)\
>     ^ ^  Mark LaPierre
> Registerd Linux user No #267004
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