[CentOS] [SOLVED] Re: Backup Suggestion on C7

Thu Oct 13 23:06:02 UTC 2016
Keith Keller <kkeller at wombat.san-francisco.ca.us>

On 2016-10-12, Alice Wonder <alice at domblogger.net> wrote:
> I'm sure some people will tell me I'm doing it wrong but I always just 
> use rsync for backups, automated in cron.

You're doing it wrong.  ;-)

You're not really doing it ''wrong'', it just depends on what your needs
are.  One drawback to using just rsync is, if a user deletes a file,
then needs it back after the rsync was run again, the file may no longer
be in your backups (similar if the user modified it and needs the original
pre-mod file back).  If you're okay with that, then rsync is fine for
your needs.

rsnapshot uses rsync with hard links to be able to efficiently keep
snapshots (not point-in-time snapshots, just whatever was present when
rsync sync'd each file) on a periodic basis.  bacula is a more
sophisticated method for doing this efficiently across multiple hosts.
LVM snapshots allow for a real point-in-time snapshot (which can then be
backed up with your favorite tool).

> I may be doing it wrong but it always works.

It always works until it doesn't.  This is unfortunately all too true
when it comes to backups.  It's easier to inspect backups on disk than
when they used to be done to tape, but it's still good to verify them
outside of your normal backup routine periodically.

--keith


-- 
kkeller at wombat.san-francisco.ca.us