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Old 03-29-2010, 02:04 AM   #1
meandsushil
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Question How to configure backup server in linux?


1>what method is used?
2>does it required separate machine for that?
3>will the backup server never crashed?
 
Old 03-29-2010, 02:14 AM   #2
Absent Minded
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1. there are many... most people I know use rsync or bacula
2. not necessarily
3. this is going to depend allot on the hardware and what distrobution of Linux you choose. Never seems an ambiguous term. I do know of many Linux servers that have been running for more than 5 years with out ever being rebooted though.
 
Old 03-29-2010, 02:14 AM   #3
Absent Minded
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1. there are many... most people I know use rsync or bacula
2. not necessarily
3. this is going to depend allot on the hardware and what distrobution of Linux you choose. Never seems an ambiguous term. I do know of many Linux servers that have been running for more than 5 years with out ever being rebooted though.
 
Old 03-29-2010, 01:13 PM   #4
paulsm4
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Hi, meandsushil -

You already asked this question ... and repeatedly got the same answer:
Quote:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...2/#post3915130

A: Anything/everything you could possibly imagine And then some

A: For example, if you ask how people back things up, you'll get LOTS of different answers...all of them right (for the people using them), and all of them wrong (for each other).

A: there are many
Quote:
1>what method is used?
<= THERE IS NO SINGLE "BEST" METHOD!
And whatever you learn today, might be irrelevant tomorrow
Whatever one employer uses, another will use something different

2>does it required separate machine for that?
<= "It depends"

3>will the backup server never crashed?
<= Similarly, "what if the backup media becomes corrupt?"

A: *Think* about it.
Think about what kinds of things can "go wrong".
Don't stop until you come up with 3 (you can easily come up with 30!)
Now think about what you can do to *mitigate* these eventualities
And remember:
Quote:
A backup procedure that hasn't been tested, cannot be trusted

Last edited by paulsm4; 03-29-2010 at 01:16 PM.
 
Old 03-29-2010, 04:45 PM   #5
Bratmon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meandsushil View Post
2>does it required separate machine for that?
It's generally a good idea. A backup system should be immune to anything that would cause you to need backups.
 
Old 03-29-2010, 07:00 PM   #6
frieza
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not directly related to the 3 questions posed but common sense with backup that is often ignored, as an assistant tech who has been in the field a few times one common mistake i see people doing is they religiously keep backups on dvd/tapes/floppies etc.. only to keep the only copy of the backup media on the shelf next to the server

think about that for a minute and ask yourself why this is wrong

answer:
if the location is physically destroyed (name your natural disaster, sprinkler system malfunction, fire, etc..) and your ownly backup is physically on location it will be destroyed as well
of course if a company can't financially withstand the destruction of their building this is moot but i have heard of at least one company going under after the 9/11 attacks on the wtc because the backup tapes for all their databases were in the trunk of a car in the parking lot under the building

Last edited by frieza; 03-29-2010 at 07:03 PM.
 
Old 03-29-2010, 09:03 PM   #7
choogendyk
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When you come in with such general basic questions, it indicates you need to do a bit of research, reading and learning. Then you might have some specific questions that would get more useful answers.

You could start with the book "Backup and Recovery" by W. Curtis Preston, or check out the companion website, Backup Central. Be aware that it is a broad and deep subject.

You could also look at the Bookmarks tagged Backup here on Linuxquestions.org.

Those should make it clear that there are many answers to your questions. My answers would be that I use a variety of backup tools depending on the situation. My departmental backups use Amanda. I use rsync to replicate certain directories such as radmind across departments. I use a variant of rsync to replicate between machines at home. I have used Retrospect in the past but am disinclined to use it anymore. Sometimes I have a backup server that is separate, and sometimes I have separate machines backing each other up. I often have multiple methods and copies. And while you would like to have all your servers never fail, you can't ever count on it. Plan for failures and have procedures to follow when they happen. Test those procedures. And, of course, always test to see that you can recover using your backups. Recover a file, recover a partition. Test on a regular basis.
 
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Old 03-29-2010, 10:34 PM   #8
paulsm4
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choogendyk -

If anybody takes anything from this discussion, this should be it:
Quote:
Plan for failures and have procedures to follow when they happen. Test those procedures. And, of course, always test to see that you can recover using your backups. Recover a file, recover a partition. Test on a regular basis.
Well said!
 
Old 03-29-2010, 11:43 PM   #9
itsbrad212
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meandsushil View Post
1>what method is used?
2>does it required separate machine for that?
3>will the backup server never crashed?
Depends. It probably will if you run gentoo

Nah, I'm kidding. It really depends on how you optimize it, what hardware you will be running it on, and how much of a load it will receive
 
  


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