From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Dec 24 02:20:14 2004 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 970F716A4CE for ; Fri, 24 Dec 2004 02:20:14 +0000 (GMT) Received: from mail3.panix.com (mail3.panix.com [166.84.1.74]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2207543D39 for ; Fri, 24 Dec 2004 02:20:14 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from fj@panix.com) Received: from panix5.panix.com (panix5.panix.com [166.84.1.5]) by mail3.panix.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3CFBE981B3; Thu, 23 Dec 2004 21:20:13 -0500 (EST) Received: (from fj@localhost) by panix5.panix.com (8.11.6p3/8.8.8/PanixN1.1) id iBO2KCc21330; Thu, 23 Dec 2004 21:20:12 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 21:20:12 -0500 From: Joe Altman To: Kevin Smith Message-ID: <20041224022012.GA4727@panix.com> Mail-Followup-To: Joe Altman , Kevin Smith , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <41CAFEB0.6070204@adelphia.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <41CAFEB0.6070204@adelphia.net> User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.2.1i cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: complete system backup recommendations X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2004 02:20:14 -0000 On Thu, Dec 23, 2004 at 09:21:52AM -0800, Kevin Smith wrote: > Hello, I'm asking for current recommendations on how to backup my > complete system (OS and all installed ports and user directories) now > that i've spent quite a bit of time getting it right. i'd hate to have > to reinstall everything again in the event of a drive failure. Here is > my allocation: > > > > df -k > Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted on > /dev/ad0s2a 5948558 3071326 2401348 56% / > /dev/ad0s2d 23498930 1377932 20241084 6% /home > > Questions: > > 1) Should I purchase an inexpensive drive and clone the filesystems ? > If so, what is the best way to do this. Drives are inexpensive and I > 20G backup drive would be fairly cheap. > 2) I'm installing a DVD drive - I suppose I could make DVD backups > across multiple CD's. > 3) any sugs ? I've been giving this some thought also. I've played around w/ ccd, on 4.11, with two identical 40 Gig drives. I've worked w/ cdbkup; I like it okay, as not only does it work well enough, it was a bit of a challenge for me to learn. I've been meaning to look at DAR, but haven't had time. I've given some consideration to a large HDD, in a cheapo case like the ones made by Bytecc, and dumping things over a USB 2 cable. But if you are buying a DVD drive, maybe something like cdbkup or DAR with growisofs (but maybe not; I only know CDRW bits) is the thing. The only thing I'm not wild about, WRT cdbkup, is that it tars the files in questions. I'd like to be able to mount the cd, and look at the contents.