Re: [rdiff-backup-users] Post-setup questions

[Grant]

>> My laptop is one of the systems I want to back up and when I travel it
>> ends up behind a router I have no control over.  Because of this, my
>> systems push to the backup server instead of the backup server pulling
>> from them.

> I'm using openvpn myself for similar tasks, and once setup properly, it
> makes life so much easier ;-)
> (interconnecting distant private networks, where each location is connected
> using isp-provided NAT-ing ADSL modems that don't allow the users to change
> most of the settings)

That sounds like a great idea.  I'll set up openvpn and switch from
pushing to pulling.  BTW, is the read-only restriction on the public
SSH keys the only advantage of pulling vs. pushing?  Are there any
drawbacks?  In a pull arrangement, if the private keys on the backup
server are stolen, the thief would have root read-access on each
system?

>> I'm backing up to a 1TB USB hard drive dedicated to backups.  How low
>> should I set the super-user space reservation on that drive?
>
> Any percentage you like..
> If you run your backups under a normal user account on the backup server
> (strongly suggested to do that!) the operating system will honour the space
> reservation percentage. Otherwise, it will not.

Would it be safe to reserve zero space for root on the USB hard drive?
 Maybe that reserved space is only necessary on a disk containing an
OS?

>> I'd like to store an additional copy of the backups on a remote
>> system.  Would it be best to rsync between the USB hard drive and the
>> remote system?

> You could indeed rsync from USB hard drive containing rdiff-backup backup
> tree to the remote system. Just make sure you either run rdiff-backup or
> rsync at the same time. Running rsync from USB drive to the extra remote
> system will not interfere with a running rdiff-backup session, but the copy
> on the extra remote system will be uselessly out of sync and not usable to
> restore using rdiff-backup.

Would you use rsync or would you have the remote system described
above act as a second rdiff-backup server and run the entire backup
process a second time?

- Grant