External Backup Disk Drive

[Bas G. Roufs - En.]

Hello Ramesh,

> I just today bought Seagate Backup Plus (2TB) external drive. It seems to
> come with Windows/Mac2 compatible auto-backup software.

simply forget about this windows/ mac software. Whipe them away or copy it 
temporarily to somewhere else - anyway, you do not need it. There are plenty of good 
Linux backup software packages - one of them is "Lucky Backup"- already mentioned 
several times in this thread. However, before doing anything else, take care of 
reformatting the whole external HD into EXT4 - to make sure backing up from a 
contemporary Linux machine will work properly. In general, a newly bought external 
HD comes with NFTS. Such a format is only useful to copy  bigger files directly from a 
MAC or WIN machine. I for example use 2 external HD's for routine backup purposes - 1 
of 2 TB which stays at home, another portable one of 750 GB - both of them, I have 
formatted with EXT4. I know it is possible to partition an external HD into eg. a EXT4 
and NTFS part. But personally,, I prefer to have one file system at one HD. A smaller, 
old portable 300 GB external HD, I have formatted as NTFS - with a view to exchanging 
files with Windows and Mac computers.

If you use Kubuntu, use "KDE Partition manager" to reformat your external HD - and to 
partition it, in case you choose to do so. 

Test now if you can copy files to and from the external HD after reformatting it - 
simply via Dolphin. If yes, you are ready. If not, no problem - you need to do just a few 
more steps. Open a terminal and carry out the command "kdesudo dolphin".  You will 
come in Dolphin filemanager as root. Click at the external HD. Then, rightclick at the 
file list without clicking at a specific file. Next step: click at properties. Next step: click 
at the tab "permissions". Via that tab, you have to change the "ownership": from "root" 
to you. Also make sure via the same tab that you as owner, are able to read, view and 
modify the content of the disk. After doing all this, you will be fine.

> 
> My question is :
> 
> 1. the auto backup software may not work under Linux. In that event would
> manual backup be possible?

See above and below.
> 
> 2. Kubuntu has "Lucky Backup" software. Would that work on these Seagate
> Drives. (I personally see no reason not to..)

Yes, absolutely. As Sinclair said already: it does not really matter which drive you are 
using. What useful to know is the storage capacity and the number of rotations per 
minute (rpm). The storage capacity is in your case 2 TB - so more then enough :-).  The 
number of rpm you can find in the documentation about your drive.

Finally, one point of attention with respect to Lucky Backup. A few times, I got back 
"old" files and folders from the external HD back to the laptop. Later, I found out how 
to prevent this. I use the option "synchronise source and destination.". The laptop, 
/home/username, is the "source" in this case. The external HD is the destination: 
/media/name-of-external-HD/username.  One of the "advanced" options I use, is this 
one: "delete files on the destination". By doing so, I make sure I get the most recent 
files and folders configuration on BOTH source AND destination. 
In case you have to put back your files and folders to your laptop, after a fresh install, 
simply use one time an option like "clone source to destination". In that case, do NOT 
use the advanced option "delete files  on the destination". 

I hope, this explanation is useful for you.

Respectfully yours,
Bas  G. Roufs.



*/Bas G. Roufs MA/* 
Van 't Hoffstraat 1; NL - 3514 VT Utrecht 
E. BasRoufs at gmail.com[1]; Mob. +31 6 446 835 10; Tel. +31 30 785 20 40. 
Open source OS: Kubuntu 13.04, see kubuntu.org[2] .Websites in construction: 
BasRoufs.eu ; Viaconsensus.nl; RainbowGathering.eu

--------
[1] mailto:BasRoufs at gmail.com
[2] http://kubuntu.org
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