[ale] Low-end tapedrives for SOHO environment

[Alan Dobkin]

--On Friday, March 19, 2004 7:37 PM -0500 Geoffrey <esoteric at 3times25.net> 
wrote:

> I realize there are solutions, I just don't see that they're going to
> do you any better then a clean install, then reintroduce your backups.
> I like the idea you're starting with a clean slate.  Then again, the
> full backup will give you all the previously installed software without
> having to retrace those steps.

Take a look at "The Tao of Backup" site:
http://www.TaoBackup.com/

They make a pretty good case for doing full backups and other best
practice methods.  Make sure to follow the links at the bottom of
each page, i.e. "Click for more information on Coverage":
http://www.TaoBackup.com/coverage_info.html

One danger of not doing full backups is that it is very difficult
to identify and track all of the locations that you have stored
data which you can't easily retrieve from other sources.  Of course
/home and /etc are obvious, but there is also irreplaceable data in
/var (i.e. /var/spool/mail, esp. for imap users, /var/log, etc.),
/usr/local, /root, and any number of other places.  It is much
easier and less prone to error to do a full backup and then simply
exclude the directories you don't need, i.e. /tmp, /proc, etc.

The other problem with partial backups is that it can take a lot
longer to locate and reinstall/recreate the exact same system and
application environment you had before.  If you need to be back
up and running in a minimal amount of time, full backups with a
"bare metal" restore procedure is the best way to go.

Alan