I have 3 Linux servers (command line only, no KDE) that I need to backup. The first is my DNS server. The second is for services, it handles my printer queues and acts as my winserver, etc... The third is my internet gateway. I need to be able to backup these servers over my LAN to a network storage device which houses 5 HDDs configured in a Raid 5 with just over 2 TBs of storage capacity. All of this has to be done has a hot backup without shutting the servers down.

I need the ability to do full system backups, incremental backups, and HDD image. I want to be covered in all areas in case of a disaster. I also need to be able to restore to bare metal and a partially running system, and have the ability to restore single files from a backup. Does anyone have any ideas that can help me? Please note that I am completely new to Linux and although I learn quickly, attempting to learn Linux on my own has proved somewhat difficult.

Slackware version information:
My DNS server is running Slackware 11.0.0
The internet gateway is running Slackware 13.37.0
The services box is running Slackware 11.0.0

Any help would be greatly appreciated and I am not looking for a hand-out. I am willing to do the work, but I need help. Thanks in advance.

there are a few packages of backup apps available. two that come to mind are bacula and amanda. slackbuilds for these are in the SBo repository.

http://slackbuilds.org/result/?search=backup&sv=13.37

but, my personal take is that there isn't such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution to making backups. for my own needs, backing up only a few important directories, I've written shell scripts similar to this (which I've placed in /etc/cron.daily/):

http://potatokorner.blogspot.ca/2009...chives-of.html

also, if you're new to linux, I would highly recommend the O'Reilly publication "Linux Server Hacks". it's a few years old, but does have some very useful tip/tricks, and those familiar with slackware will recognize hints throughout the book that the author was using slackware in his examples.

http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596004613.do

1 members found this post helpful.

http://www.mikerubel.org/computers/rsync_snapshots/

Great solution, which I've been using for a few years to backup our public library servers. This is also described in the Linux Server Hacks mentioned in the previous post.

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I use rsnapshot. Perhaps the following might help:

A Backup Strategy

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Thanks everyone. I will give them all a try.