what is your system backup strategy?

[rizzo56]

i have a win2k system using ntfs and would like to do network backups to an ftp server on my lan. just wondering what tools you guys use for backups. I am really looking for something that is automated. ghost seems great for creating an image after you get everything installed but not something you would use on a regular basis. it needs to be in dos, very manual.

as a side note, for a single user computer, is there any reason to use ntfs rather than fat32? I ask because i was thinking of handling my linux backups via tar and also mounting my windows partitions (i dual boot) in linux and tar-ing them up also. issue is linux and ntfs aren't good pals but fat32 and linux are.

 

[Need4Speed]

i use a spare pc running debian with rsync, ssh and samba. each night the file server logs into all the other machines on the network (windows and linux machines) using rsync/ssh and then backs up all the specified direcetories. I keep 7days worth of backups in my rotation. rsync is beautiful since it does a bit to bit comparison of files, and only transfers those bits that have changed. this keeps network traffic to a minimum once the first full backup has been established.

 

[BurningDog]

ntfs is more stable as its the native NT file system. It has better support for permissions and also adds other 'fun' features like compression and file encryption (see other posts about this topic)

about using NTFS w/linux... read support is 100%. If you need to write to ntfs , people have reported sucess with this

 

[spyordie007]

it needs to be in dos, very manual.

If it were in DOS you would need to shut the system down and would stil need NTFS drivers (which do exist but just thought I would mention it).

I know you say you want something "manual" but I would still reccomend NTBackup; It wont backup to an FTP server but it will backup to a file or UNC path (so if you really wanted to do FTP you could use a 3rd party application to map the ftp server as a local drive). You can schedule it, it can be run from the command line and is very robust.

I do backups on my home machine this way; I have NTBackup scheduled to do a full backup weekly and a differential (stuff that's changed) backup nightly all to a network share. One might think this is a bit overkill for my home machine however it only took about 15 min. to setup and it's been hapily running since.

On the larger scale (at work) I use Veritas's Backupexec; but than again I probably have a lot more "stuff" to backup there than you do

-Erik

EDIT: and BTW yes you want to use NTFS.

 

[rizzo56]

when i said 'it needs to be in dos, very manual', i was refering to ghost. I am actually looking for a strategy that once you set up is automatic. when you say ntbackup, do you mean what is native in win2k - programs-->accessories --> systems tools --> backup?

 

[spyordie007]

Ghost, by no means, would be automatic. Ghost requires you to shut the system down and (basically) manually create the image. You can automate pieces of it but it would still be partially manual and require you to shut the system down.

Yes, NTBackup can be accessed off the programs menu as you indicated. It can also be run from the command prompt.

-Erik

 

[Smilin]

Just use NTBackup dude.

Run a full backup including the system state. You can do it while the system is up, no dos diskette required. If you are addicted to command line you can automate the whole thing from batch or command line as well.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: rizzo56
i have a win2k system using ntfs and would like to do network backups to an ftp server on my lan. just wondering what tools you guys use for backups. I am really looking for something that is automated. ghost seems great for creating an image after you get everything installed but not something you would use on a regular basis. it needs to be in dos, very manual.

as a side note, for a single user computer, is there any reason to use ntfs rather than fat32? I ask because i was thinking of handling my linux backups via tar and also mounting my windows partitions (i dual boot) in linux and tar-ing them up also. issue is linux and ntfs aren't good pals but fat32 and linux are.

Look at V2i protector from Symantec/Powerquest. Full image backup, but done from within a live running system. I do full images weekly and then incrementals a few times a day to a second USB drive.

Bill

 

[civad]

I burn it on CDRWs.. the .exe for apps,music, video, other documents, etc.
Updated every weekend or so.
As for the OS / customized settings, I dont really care. It doesnt take more than a couple of hours to reinstall OS/ apps and tweak the OS.
** for both Linux and windows
Under linux, the /home folder is on a separate drive. That is my additional backup..

 

[corkyg]

I have three computers - one of which is a laptop. Each has a complete duplicate HDD. I clone the drives every weekend, and then rotate them so they get a week off. Cloning is easy, especially with Acronis TrueImage 7. It creates a bootable CDR with everything on it - so you don't even need to go through your OS. It is a direct deal - switch connectors and you are instantly up and running. Beats the heck out of images on CDs, tapes, etc. It is faster, and no restoration is needed.

 

[spyordie007]

Yuck, I dont like any of those ideas. Too much intervention required.

I'm a big fan of systems that require as little intervention as possible...

-Erik

 

[Need4Speed]

Originally posted by: spyordie007
Yuck, I dont like any of those ideas. Too much intervention required.

I'm a big fan of systems that require as little intervention as possible...

-Erik

yeah same here. i could care if i loose my apps and stuff or if i have to install from scratch, but my data is priceless. I love the rsync method im using. requires nothing on my part and all my nix and windows boxes get backed up every single night. its not as fancy as true image or ntbackup, but it works in my situation

 

[Abzstrak]

I wrote scripts to backup what I need using robocopy. I set them to copy only changed/ new files to my server at logout, takes an additional 10 seconds or so at shutdown, but does it everytime I shutdown.... more importantly everytime my wife shuts hers down ;-) (my docs, desktop, favorites, download folder, etc...)



the server itself is raid 5 plus weekly backups.... plenty for home use. I cant say i'd use this strategy in a corporate environment, but it should be fine.