On 03/12/2012 12:11 AM, Scott Walker wrote: > > >> -----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 >> _______________________________________________ >> CentOS mailing list >> CentOS at centos.org >> http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos > > > _______________________________________________ > CentOS mailing list > CentOS at centos.org > http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos > If each of your backups contains the entire 25gb of data that you mention then a 1 tb drive will hold +/- 40 said backups. That should be enough for a years worth of backups. Just get a new 1 tb drive each year for four years and you're golden for a lot less than a single tape drive. Install a drive in a remote computer and have off site backups too. -- _ °v° /(_)\ ^ ^ Mark LaPierre Registerd Linux user No #267004