Topic: Recommended Backup Device?

[bradleyj00]

Wondering if someone can recommend a backup device that's easily configured with SME 8. Considering tape, rdx, usb device, etc. I need to do a daily backup of around 50GB, and would like to store the media off site, therefore I'd probably need something portable.

Thinking I'll be using DAR2.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

[idp_qbn]

Hi Bradleyj00
My favourite way is to have a 2nd SME server running AFFA (its a backup system available through the contribs...more than just backups, though; system recovery is what it really is about). I have one running on my home network, but out in the garage/shed away from the house. Well worth reading the contrib  notes. http://wiki.contribs.org/Affa

Otherwise, get a 500Gb USB drive - very cheap these days. Use the backup system in the server-manager panel. In fact, get two disks and rotate them weekly. That way, you have a daily backup ( full plus daily incrermentals), with last week's backup stored offline somewhere.

Cheers
Ian
Moderator: could this be moved to General Discussion?

[TerryF]

Otherwise, get a 500Gb USB drive - very cheap these days. Use the backup system in the server-manager panel. In fact, get two disks and rotate them weekly. That way, you have a daily backup ( full plus daily incrermentals), with last week's backup stored offline somewhere.

This is what I do on two servers in small offices environments for not for profit orgs, they use two USB HDS, on a workstation, and swap them on a weekly basis using the built in backup to workstation option in server-manager. That workstation has WOL so use that to start it via a cron job at 1am on a Sunday and then the backup runs.

On my home server I just back to my workstation, "iregularly" and use a external HD to store the backups..messy I know..unfortunately I'm lazy.. 

[CharlieBrady]

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[jameswilson]

I use SME and AFFA with great success. I use it to move hardware as well as for normal backup / restore.

I have SME running the host and then i use the virtualbox notes to run virtual machines within. These then backup my main SME in various locations (remote) i also have an old dell p4 desktop running locally doing the same to take over as and when needed.

Both have been bulletproof over the years and i wouldnt backup any other way now.

[Stefano]

Wondering if someone can recommend a backup device that's easily configured with SME 8. Considering tape, rdx, usb device, etc. I need to do a daily backup of around 50GB, and would like to store the media off site, therefore I'd probably need something portable.

Thinking I'll be using DAR2.

an usb dat tape drive (internal or external) and SME's default backup feature

[janet]

bradleyj00

Configure Affa to backup to local USB disk.
Buy 2 x mini USB disks, say 1gb in capacity each.
Then do a full Affa backup on each on consecutive nights.
Then after that Affa will do daily incremental backups (only adding changes).
Swap each disk off site each alternate day.

If you forget a day or get out of sync, it does not matter, Affa will just do another incremental.

Keep this "pattern" going for 3 or 6 or 12 months or even longer (depending on your personal choice & data security model). You will have backups that allow you to restore any files made on any day during that total retention period, or you can do a full restore to any date.

Create new full backups on both disks after a suitable desired time period eg 1 year & then do daily incrementals again.

[jameswilson]

Mary as always is dead on.

But im lazy and prefer it just happens.

Setup multiple boxes in various locations (with at least 1 being lan) and then just check they do their stuff. Job done imo

[janet]

jameswilson

But im lazy and prefer it just happens.

Dedicated automated Affa backup server or servers are a great idea re set & forget, & I have used them.
If backing up offsite via Internet & ADSL, Affa uses rsync, & if there are large amounts of data changing each day on the source server, then it is simply not practical to rsync over the net in one overnight session.

bradleyj00 asked for portable offsite storage on a daily basis, so swapping USB disks is a practical answer.

A daily incremental backup to an offsite Affa backip server via net using rsync is OK for data changes of a few hundred Mb or even 1Gb, but more than that becomes impossible or impractical to transfer, even with fast connections. Typical ADSL is slow on the outgoing leg, & you can also use up a lot of data allowance on your monthly plan. If you had 50Gb allowance per month, then this could easily be used up by daily large incremental rsync transfers, and/or significant additional data usage charges could be incurred.

Every situation is different & the particulars/requirements of one situation will really determine the most suitable approach. What works OK for one, does not necessarily apply to another.

[jameswilson]

Mary
id agree was thinking id use (and do as part of my system) a local sme with Affa. However as you rightly say our nightly backups over the wan are only a few hundred meg and as such isnt a problem (the first one takes a few weeks mind)

[janet]

jameswilson

If you use a dedicated offsite Affa backup server, then ideally you should bring that server to the site in order to perform the first full backup (temporarily reconfigured for the local network of course).

[bradleyj00]

Thanks for the suggestions! Really appreciate it. I will setup an AFFA box; I'm sure that will raise further questions.

In the meantime, at least for the short term, I need to back up to an external USB hard drive. I've revisited this plan on several occassions, but never really resolved this to a comfort level that I could rely on.

I understand the typical off the shelf external USB drive will be preformatted with FAT32 or perhaps NTFS. I realize that's not going to work, so I reformated to ext3 or vfat. Still, SME would not recognize the drive. Is there a step I'm missing? I've formatted, and mounted the drive(s), but the system still behaves like there's nothing attached.

Hoping someone can offer a gentle shove in the right direction....

Thanks,
Jim

[Stefano]

Thanks for the suggestions! Really appreciate it. I will setup an AFFA box; I'm sure that will raise further questions.

In the meantime, at least for the short term, I need to back up to an external USB hard drive. I've revisited this plan on several occassions, but never really resolved this to a comfort level that I could rely on.

I understand the typical off the shelf external USB drive will be preformatted with FAT32 or perhaps NTFS. I realize that's not going to work, so I reformated to ext3 or vfat. Still, SME would not recognize the drive. Is there a step I'm missing? I've formatted, and mounted the drive(s), but the system still behaves like there's nothing attached.

Hoping someone can offer a gentle shove in the right direction....

Thanks,
Jim

format your drive in ext3, then in a root's shell:

Code: [Select]

tail -f /var/log/messages

plug in your disk and see what happens, then report here