Re: [rdiff-backup-users] Advice on using rdiff-backup for home backup solution

[Jakob Unterwurzacher]

Am 01/04/10 18:25, schrieb taltman:
> Hello,
>
> I'm looking to get feedback on a proposed home backup solution using
> rdiff-backup. I'm new to backups, and I'm trying to strike a balance
> between simplicity and adequate protection. I've read the rdiff-backup
> webpage, documentation, and wiki, and I've been working through the
> "Backup and Recovery" O'reilly book.
>
> I basically have two laptops (one Mac and one Linux), one Linux virtual
> web server, and one Linux workstation in my home setup. My current plan
> involves:
>
> 1. Using 'unison' to sync between the machines, using the workstation as
> the hub.
> 2. Using two 1 Tbyte externally enclosed hard drives.
> 3. Performing an initial rdiff-backup of the data partition on the
> workstation to each of the external hard drives.
> 4. Taking one of the hard drives to an off-site location.
> 5. Using the remaining hard drive at home for daily/weekly rdiff-backups
> 6. Periodically switching the two external hard drives between my home
> and the off-site location.
>
> I'm not quite sure what's the best way to do #6. Should I mirror the two
> external hard drives using a tool like rsync or unison? Or should I just
> use rdiff-backup between the workstation and each individual external
> hard drive?

a)
Unison: No! You have to either mirror the other rdiff-backup dataset 1:1 
( I don't think Unsion is the weapon of choice here) or leave it alone, 
otherwise the history (reverse-deltas) will break.

b)
rsync mirroring: Would work.
Advantage: You will have the full history on both drives.
Disadvantage: If one backup disk has subtle corruption you will mirror 
the junk to the other disk.

c)
Just rdiff-backup:
Disadvantage: Every second month of history is on the other drive.
Advantage: Less hassle


> Also, just to confirm my impression from reading the docs: currently,
> rdiff-backup doesn't handle monthly/weekly/daily backup schedules
> "out-of-the-box",

Yes.

> though I think there are a few ways to approximate
> that. And I further realize that with rdiff-backup, there's less of a
> need for those different levels of backups due to the compression/delta
> scheme.
>
> Any help that you can provide to a newbie would be greatly appreciated!
>
> Thanks,
>
> taltman


Regards,

Jakob