Network backup problems
meandmine
redhowlingwolves at nc.rr.com
Sat Nov 14 09:35:11 UTC 2009
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Monte Milanuk wrote:
> So... got an old PC online and running as a Linux file server, running ssh and
> samba. Main OS is on a 13.8GB PATA drive, with a 12.2GB / partition, and a
> 1.5GB partition for swap. There are two 500GB SATA drives set up in a software
> RAID 1 configuration mounted under /srv. I have BackupPC running, and I am
> trying to get the initial full backup done. Unfortunately this is proving to be
> more of a PITA than I had anticipated.
>
> The network layout is like this: PPPOE over fiber to the ISP. I have a Buffalo
> wifi router/access point plugged into the wall, connected to the ISP. I have
> the following connected via 802.11g wireless: a Macbook (mine), another Macbook
> (wife's from the school district), the daughter's HP laptop (when she's home),
> and my main HP desktop PC (actually this has an Atheros a/b/g/n dual channel
> wireless adapter, but the main network is 802.11g). Also connected to the wifi
> router via a cat5 ethernet cable to one of the LAN ports is the server.
>
> The plan *was* to backup the 'Users' directory on the desktop PC, the HP laptop,
> and the two macboooks... and then perhaps use the 'Archive' function of BackupPC
> to an external hard drive for a little additional peace of mind.
>
> The problem is... the drive capacities are huge relative to the network speeds
> I'm getting. The desktop has a 640GB hard drive, and the laptop has a 500GB
> hard drive. The two macbooks have 40-60GB hard drives, but they are both
> getting close to end of life. The two larger machines aren't anywhere near
> full, but even after setting the config.pf file for BackupPC to skip any CD/DVD
> images, Virtualbox disk images, or TrueCrypt volumes, the remainder on the
> desktop PC is considerable - lots of pictures and videos and a metric crap load
> in the iTunes directory ;) With a *peak* transfer rate from the PC of about 20
> Mbit/s, and average somewhere below 15... well, the Atheros wifi adapter on the
> PC has locked up about five times already, requiring me to restart the full
> backup :(
>
> Once it gets done - if it gets done... subsequent incremental backups shouldn't
> be so bad - until I download another seasons worth of a television series ;)
>
> I figure I can hook the laptops up via ethernet and speed things up
> considerably, at least for that first full backup. Would doing the transfer
> over ssh/rsync be noticeably faster than using Samba, considering the weak link
> seems to be the wifi connection? I've also thought of going ahead and getting
> that external drive I mentioned earlier, backing up to it from the PC and then
> using it to 'pre-seed' the backup directory on the server. If it worked the way
> I'm picturing in my mind, it'd be a fairly convoluted evolution, and definitely
> not something I'd want to do on a regular basis. If anyone has any ideas or
> suggestions short of packing up the desktop PC and hauling it downstairs to hook
> up to the router via cat5... I'm open.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Monte
>
Maybe try imaging each disc to a dvd, or cd. Then, on the server,
install each image in a separate partition. Then for the next backup,
just do a diff for each partition.
In other words, just change the backup to what was changed on the original.
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