hello, i'm looking for a reliable program to do backups to my desktop. (from the remote linux server....to my desktop )

Preferably an FTP program that I can login to with Root access.... but most importantly, a program that will only copy over changed / new files after the first full backup.

Thats the biggest problem I have currently.. when i do it with WinSCP, I usually backup the WHOLE entire /vhosts/ directory each and everytime. And its 2 GB's in size....takes forever when copying to desktop.

I would only like changed / new files to be copied over after the first full backup.

Maybe WinSCP already has this option , I just haven't seen it yet ?

rsync may be just the thing you're looking for.

you can't use rsync to backup to desktop from a linux.

if so, I haven't figured out how to do so yet.

You can't? Obviously I must not understand the question, but I'll try again at the risk of being dense...

As far as I know, anything you can ftp to and copy from you ought to be able to rsync to.

You're at your desktop machine/workstation running... Windows? Linux? and you want to copy your vhosts directory on your remote Linux server. If you're on a Linux desktop, then your command ought to be straightforward:

rsync -av[other paratmeters you might want] remote server/vhosts /home/local/backup

There are many, many communication options for rsync. (man rsync) If your desktop machine is Windows, I believe there's a Windows version (?Goodsync), or you could use colinux to run the real rsync...

unison is another possibility.

I'd like a software compatible that I could use on a linux and can RSYNC to a windows vista desktop.

unison I never heard of , and looks mighty complicating.

Something simple , basic , and popular would be nice.