[CentOS] [OT] Using rsync to backup / restore - when to use (or not use) the -H option switch?

[Les Mikesell]

On Wed, Feb 11, 2015 at 11:51 AM, Gordon Messmer
<gordon.messmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 02/11/2015 09:02 AM, Francis Gerund wrote:
>>
>> When using rsync to backup and restore, when should and when should one
>> *not*  include hard links (by using the -H option switch)?
>
>
> It's probably too site or application specific to give any general advice.
>
> Run this command across the filesystem you're going to back up:
>     find /path -type f -links +1
>
> All of the files listed in find's output have multiple links, and will
> benefit from using -H.
>
> The cost associated with -H is that rsync has to keep a table in memory of
> all of the inodes and paths that it processes.  A large filesystem can cause
> rsync to consume a lot of RAM.  If sufficient RAM is available, I would
> always recommend -H.

I don't know about the actual implementation, but wouldn't it really
only need to track the inodes/paths of the files with >1 link?

-- 
   Les Mikesell
      lesmikesell at gmail.com