[ale] Low-end tapedrives for SOHO environment

[Greg]

I have experienced this firsthand.  Since I have more programs than I would
care to admit, it takes a several weekends to get my main box even close to
what it was before I have had to reinstall.  If you are running a stock box
with documented changes then perhaps it "might" not be so bad.  But I
suspect that most folks (especially IT types) have their main PC's full of
little programs, links, scripts, etc etc that need to be backed up. A full
backup is a whole lot less painful than trying to recreate a box.  After you
have updated, upgraded, and patched a box it's even worse.

Greg

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org]On Behalf Of Alan
> Dobkin
> Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 8:03 PM
> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
> Subject: Re: [ale] Low-end tapedrives for SOHO environment
>
>
> --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
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