From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Nov 19 06:43:32 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8BC9316A4CF for ; Wed, 19 Nov 2003 06:43:32 -0800 (PST) Received: from sccrmhc12.comcast.net (sccrmhc12.comcast.net [204.127.202.56]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7BE7D43FBD for ; Wed, 19 Nov 2003 06:43:31 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from freebsd-questions-local@be-well.ilk.org) Received: from be-well.no-ip.com ([66.30.200.37]) by comcast.net (sccrmhc12) with ESMTP id <2003111914433001200o4vole>; Wed, 19 Nov 2003 14:43:30 +0000 Received: by be-well.no-ip.com (Postfix, from userid 1147) id BA6EB53; Wed, 19 Nov 2003 09:43:30 -0500 (EST) Sender: lowell@be-well.ilk.org To: Keith Spencer References: <20031119053350.67878.qmail@web12002.mail.yahoo.com> From: Lowell Gilbert Date: 19 Nov 2003 09:43:30 -0500 In-Reply-To: <20031119053350.67878.qmail@web12002.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <441xs44dwt.fsf@be-well.ilk.org> Lines: 42 User-Agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Can I bakup like this...?? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list Reply-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 14:43:32 -0000 Keith Spencer writes: > I need a quick n safe backup strategy. > One that I can get the machine backup super quick if > have to. Okay, that's your main design goal in your backup strategy; fast recovery in case of main disk failure. You're not worrying about fire, etc. > What say you about this...(and "how do I" tips please) > a) Throw another drive in the box > b) Createthe same or at least minimum size partitions > as the active drive > c) Cron job to "dump" or tar or ??? the partitions dd(1) is the easiest way to make sure that the disk will work just like the other one. It requires a same-size-or-larger second disk. > Then if the original drive hassles me I dump back to > the partition or if the original drive dies, make the > backup drive the active one! Yep. > HELP.... > How do I do this. Pretty simple; duplicate the first disk on the second in some periodic cron job. Not too often, because if failure occurs during the copy, you'll be toast. > (Disregarding the disaster recovery for the momnet if > necessary) DON'T disregard the disaster recovery procedure. If you have't tested the recovery procedure, then you don't have a working backup system. Other things to note are the fact that if the whole system fails, is stolen, hit by lightning, burned, or so on, your system has no provisions for recovery. Make sure you have another (albeit slower) recovery procedure as well, preferably with off-site backups.