Hello Linux Geeks, ( I say that with the utmost admiration )

I have a file/svn server at the office that I would like to auto back up every night at 2:00am. From the research I have done, rsync is the way to go. However the examples and tutorials I have read have left me with some unanswered questions so I am turning to this community for answers once more.

What I am confused about:

Do I make our office server the rsync --daemon?
On the client do I need to specify the remote directory I want to rysnc? If so why do I set that in the rsyncd.conf?
Where in the command path do I put in the local directory I want the rsync'd files to go into? (ie rsync --d '/home/backupofficefiles' rsyncserver.com?)
Do I need to use SSH if I'm already connected via VPN?

If those questions could be answered that would be great! Thanks guys.

No, you don't have to have an rsync daemon going.

On the client you are running rsync from, you do need to specify the local and remote directories.. for example:
rsync goes over ssh, so yes.

just to check, have you read man rsync ?

I skimmed through the rsync man page. I admit, after what you posted it made more sense. I am confused why there is even an rsync daemon now... Doesn't seem like it's even needed. Do both sides of the connection require rsync?

I got it working. I was confused because I thought a rsync server was needed. But I see now that rsync is a lot like SCP with a few more bells and whistles which help keep things in sync. Instead of just merely copying files over and over writing thing, it also will delete local files to make it match the remote machine.