[ale] Today's lesson: rdiff-backup restores

[Solomon Peachy]

On Sat, Feb 20, 2016 at 08:40:16AM -0500, DJ-Pfulio wrote:
> Backups include:

I figure I'd throw in my two cents.

I've been using rdiff-backup for a long, long time, and I tend to err on 
the side of excess.  While there is some variance between the systems, 
there's some commonality.  These are always backed up in their entirety:

 * /etc
 * /var   [not worth making this more granular IMO]
 * /home  [if there are any non-root accounts]

Then, depending on the specific system, I may include a few extras:

 * Package list dumps  [ eg 'rpm -qa' ]
 * Explicit database dumps [ eg 'pg_dumpall -c | pbzip2' ]
 * etc etc

Although those are already technically covered by the backup of /var, 
these are intended to allow for easier piecemeal restoration.

The net result of this is that with 45 day retention, my backups hover 
at about 280GB for three systems.  I use an eSATA drive to hold this 
stuff.

I also have bulk storage space used in a mostly write-once manner; I 
back up the important stuff (ie whatever can't be replaced, such as my 
photo archive) onto optical media.  That's running about 2 TB.

Now all of this is fine and good, until I consider that my backups are 
stored in the same closet as my server.  As long as no physical disaster 
occurs, that's peachy.

Then again.. one of the server's UPS batteries actually exploded about a 
year ago. Had I not been home when it happened, it would have likely 
started a fire, taking everything out at once.  Oh, and did I mention 
that I have a substantial amount of ammunition stored in that same 
closet?

...Maybe my backup strategy isn't so sound after all..

 - Solomon
-- 
Solomon Peachy        		       pizza at shaftnet dot org
Delray Beach, FL                          ^^ (email/xmpp) ^^
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
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