Backup Application of the Year
 

What's your preferred tool for backups?

--jeremy

#! /bin/sh

# an simple example of backing up to a usb thumb drive using tar
# this could easily be altered to upload to a server

backup="backup_"`date +'%Y%m%d'`
mkdir /tmp/$backup
cp -r ~/* /tmp/$backup
tar cf /tmp/${backup}.tar /tmp/$backup
mount /mnt/usb
cp /tmp/${backup}.tar /mnt/usb/
umount /mnt/usb

Lot of possibilities in the poll. I use a few of then.

rsync
tar
Clonezilla
cpio
rsnapshot
partimage
FSArchiver

Another I am trying out is Redo Backup and Recovery. Very easy to use.

My preferred tool is rsnapshot, it is the main component of my automated backup plan.

rsync (+tar)

boy... you lost all your config files and directories starting with a dot :-(

fsarchiver
partimage
clonezilla

rsync

rsnapshot for a wrapper application with CRON. But rsync for manual backups.

How about adding luckybackup.

luckyBackup has been added.

--jeremy

tar ! I use it a lot !

Hi,

Definitely Bacula in my book. Takes a bit of time and adapting setting it up the first time but once it's working doesn't fail.

Kind regards,

Eric

Same here - my external backups get done with rsync, but I still like to do nightly tar files for stuff that changes often between rsync'ing

You're absolutely correct that it will not copy any dotfiles or 'hidden' directories. But,

1. this was a quick and dirty example script - I actually do mine manually (-1 to me for not automating it)
2. I don't backup anything in . directories because I just don't care about them (who cares about what's in .dbus and I can reset my firefox preferences easily)
3. all the dotfiles are not my master copies but merely a local copy of the actual stored and backedup version. Actually, come to think about it I've been thinking about whether or not my config files should be version controlled...but that's another issue.

rsync with tar can't be beat
but I also use back-in-time quite a bit

To me, clonezilla g4l partimage and the like are in a different category from rsync and tar and so on - disk / partition backup vs file backup. I use rsync and clonezilla the most.

Mixed bag of tar, rsync, mysqldump

rsnapshot is pretty cool, and it utilizes the power of rsync.

rsync for sure
 

there's nothing as good as rsync

For those of you interested in more information on rsnapshot, I covered it in my Linux Magazine article back in 2007: http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/...with_rsnapshot

--jeremy

I only use tar, so I vote for it. But I know that AMANDA and BACULA are very good.

tar rocks

tar... no rsync... no Bacula, um... I'm so confused!!!!
 

Gee, This is one of those dificult ones - kinda like the network monitoring one, because I actually mix and match and use more than one in a single place at any given time.

Basically, tar and rsync MUST be listed (and are right up there on top in the poll too LOL), while I also use others in the list regularly too, such as Clonezilla, Bacula (for enterprise disaster recovery to augment tar and rsync implementations that are ALWAYS incorporated), and luckybackup is really good too for many applications.

Years ago Bru was in the list LOL.

Does anyone still use Amanda?

Anyway, if I had to pick only three, they would be *tar*, *rsync*, and *Bacula*.....

But we can only pick one in the list above.... tar or Bacula.... tar or Bacula.... Okay then. tar is the original, and I think we all pretty much rely on it regardless, along w/rsync, so the one I picked from the list above was......

Bacula :)

I hope that helps!

Kindest regards,

.

lftp for me :)

From me luckyBackup....!!!! :D

+1 :)

rsync with tar or luckybackup for me.

+1 Luckybackup

Luckybackup for me

Clonezilla for imaging Windows and Linux systems and Luckybackup for regular system backups

Luckybackup for me

clonezilla and luckybackup :)

mysql-zrm & rdiff
 

I`m happy user of mysql-zrm & rdiff for years.

I use clonezilla occasionally for backups, but the majority of the time i'm using it for imaging systems. I never really think of it as a "backup" tool per say. tar, dump and rsync are givens for me, and I use AMANDA as well.

Rsync for now.

Of Course. Large user base. Very active developer group. Lots of interesting developments in the last year or so. Just check in to the Amanda Users list or the Amanda Hackers list.

Yes, support via users list is very fast and friendly. Also amanda itself does a great job, especially if you have several systems to back up. Setting it up for the first time takes a little time but once you're done, it works flawlessly.

Duplicity is pretty awesome; while rsync does incremental, and tar lets you encrypt your backups, the combination really work with off-site backups. Duplicity allows to do incremental + encrypted + off-site, with low bandwith requirements (after one initial sync). Also, good granularity and fairly straightforward setup. Together with cron it's the perfect solution for my server and my workstations.

Duplicity and rdiff-backup!
I also use backup4l but that is somewhat old.
rsync and tar are not backup applications. They are tools. In my book that is something completely different. Although I do use and like them (a lot!). I also use cp a lot. Just moving data around is not a backup. See the second post; very clever and short script. So short in fact he forgets to backup his entire personal config and settings set.

Amanda
 

I would love to use amanda as a best backup application.

amanda all the way!

I prefer Thunderbird on Ubuntu

I prefer to use AMANDA

If I were to go by the volume - vzdump is a clear winner for me.

Amanada meets all my backup needs

I love Amanda Enterprise with the GUI (Zmanda), it makes configuring backups a lot easier. For me it is better than the free edition, if I run into a problem, I can give these guys a ring and they solve it for me.

Amanda is best solution for backup and Amanada enterprise makes the Backup Restore monitoring and reporting very easy.

gee :)

Do you send all of your files via mail and administer backups with thunderbird? :-P

I use tar :)

I use luckybackup
That's why I made it after all !!
:)

wut???

I hear that Internet Exploder is a great backup solution for ewbuntu too!

Man, there's always something that gets me rolling on the floor laughing, but this one takes the cake for todays obligatory giggle.