BackupPC on the backup server

rozilla · 08-08-2008, 09:55 AM

I got a backup server that I want to set up with the following specs:

HP Proliant DL380G5
- 1TB (RAID5)

This server is going to run as a backup server. That is I will install BackupPC and run full and incremental backups of our fileserver (same HP Proliant RAID5), our firewall (also HP Proliant, but only 2x 146GB RAID disks in there) and our mailserver (same situation like firewall).

The main thing here is the fileserver. Here's how it's been partitioned. Notice the space allocation for the boot partition. Our systems guy must have been high on something.

/boot 3.7GB
/ 9.3GB
swap 502MB
/srv 918GB
/usr 19GB

I would like some advice on how to partition the backup server. Is LVM a good idea?

Quote:

BackupPC stores the backups in /var/lib/backuppc, so I've made that an extra partition of about 90 GB on the BackupPC server. It should be noted that this is still very small, especially if you want to back up lots of machines, so bigger is better. Also, you should consider using LVM for the /var/lib/backuppc partition so that you can enlarge it whenever you need it. You can learn more about LVM in this tutorial: http://www.howtoforge.com/linux_lvm

source>>

trickykid · 08-08-2008, 10:18 AM

LVM is always a really good idea.

/boot = 100MB or so, never really need more than that.
/ = 1024MB is usually sufficient.
/usr = 4GB - 8GB is usually sufficient.
/var = 2GB - 4GB is usually sufficient.
/tmp = 2GB - 4GB is usually sufficient.
swap = matching the amount of RAM in system is usually sufficient.
/srv = If that's where you're storing backups, use remaining space or change it like /backup or /data, etc.

The nice thing about LVM is it allows you to grow and shrink each on the fly when necessary. Since this is a backup server, I wouldn't even worry about setting aside /home on it's own partition, unless users are going to be using it, then set aside if that's the case.

rozilla · 08-08-2008, 12:21 PM

Quote:

BackupPC stores the backups in /var/lib/backuppc

I'm storing the backup as stated above. So do I let /var take up the rest of the space, then?

trickykid · 08-08-2008, 02:15 PM

Nah, I'd create a /var/lib/backuppc and leave /var with it's own partition, that way if your backups fill up all the space, it won't affect anything in var like logs and pid files, etc.

rozilla · 08-08-2008, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trickykid

Nah, I'd create a /var/lib/backuppc and leave /var with it's own partition, that way if your backups fill up all the space, it won't affect anything in var like logs and pid files, etc.

You mean two var's? One official one, and the other containing only ./lib/backuppc?

choogendyk · 08-10-2008, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rozilla

You mean two var's? One official one, and the other containing only ./lib/backuppc?

What he meant was to have a partition that is mounted on /var. Then, inside the directory /var you have a directory lib, and inside that a directory backuppc. That directory, whose full path is /var/lib/backuppc is used as the mount point for the partition with all the backup space. This is standard UNIX/Linux approach to file structures. Hope that's clear.

rozilla · 08-11-2008, 10:24 AM

Thanks, that helped. :-)

lattimro · 02-01-2022, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by choogendyk

What he meant was to have a partition that is mounted on /var. Then, inside the directory /var you have a directory lib, and inside that a directory backuppc. That directory, whose full path is /var/lib/backuppc is used as the mount point for the partition with all the backup space. This is standard UNIX/Linux approach to file structures. Hope that's clear.

they call it 'hardlink'