Re: Backup Software

[Paul E Condon <pecondon@mesanetworks.net>]

On 20110722_181654, Siard wrote:
> Michael Checca:
> > Camaleón:
> > > Ethan Rosenberg:
> > > > What software would you recommend to backup a Debian system on a
> > > > stand-alone computer?
> > >
> > > tar + compression
> > 
> > +1 for simplicity :)
> 
> Nowadays' harddisks have plenty of space, so I would make it even
> simpler:
> 
> cp -a
> 
> 

The advocates of rsnapshot, above, seem to think that automatic, and
scheduled backups are important enough to be worth some extra effort
on setup. I wonder, how often a simplicity advocate actually does a
backup?  And how they remind themselves when it is time to do another?
How many point backups does one keep? Etc. etc. 

Because of this thread, I have looked into rsnapshot. It is very 
attractive, but I think writing the include/exclude filter for
the underlying rsync is non-trivial --- should I write an exclude
for the private key in .ssh/ ? Etc.

A simple backup, like cp -a, is appropriate just prior to some
major physical changes in hardware setup even if one has an automatic
system in place. But just prior to the first lightning strike of a
thunderstorm? I wonder.

I know that contending opinion makes for a interesting conversation,
but maybe there is some middle ground advice that someone could offer.

-- 
Paul E Condon           
pecondon@mesanetworks.net