Simple Backup problems

[David Christensen]

Faizan Kazi wrote:
> Can TimeVault, Flyback, Backintime, rsync and other such softwares that 
> copy file by file really be used to completely restore a system?

I have been using Norton Ghost for many years on Windows systems.  Ghost 
2003 (only; beware of other versions) can deal with ext2 filesystems, so 
I build my Linux systems that way.  Given the size and granularity of 
Ghost images (e.g. one large block), I put my operating systems and 
applications on one drive, backed up infrequently by Ghost, and put my 
data on another drive, backed up frequently by rsync.


A key issue in hard drive/ boot sector/ partition/ filesystem backup/ 
recovery/ archive tool selection is metadata (owner, group, permissions, 
ACL, SELinux, whatever) and specials (boot sector, /dev, /proc, etc.). 
As I'm the primary/ sole user of my data, I only care about the file 
name, mtime, and contents, and can use rsync at a very basic level. 
But, it is my understanding that rsync can capture much more if you run 
it as root on both ends and pick the right options.  Figuring out how to 
rsync one system drive to another, deal with the MBR's, power down, pull 
the first drive, install the second, power up, and have the system work 
correctly is an exercise left for the reader.


I recently read "Backup & Recovery Inexpensive Backup Solutions for Open 
Systems" By W. Curtis Preston, and recommend it for anyone who is 
serious about administering computer systems:

     http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596102463/


HTH,

David