Backup system when it is being used

whitewolf573 · Post by **whitewolf573** » 2009/12/25 16:39:09

I am planning to implement a backup strategy to backup my basic system ,applications installed and the different configurations also of the personal data (From documents , music etc , to my photos , 3d design files etc)

I have a Hard disk (well SSD really) of 120GB for the system (8GB Swap,30GB / and 60GB /home), one 750GB Hdd for save my music,photos,images and other things not related to 3d design , and i am going to buy tomorrow 2 hdds more , one of 1 TB for use only for 3D design , for save final images , models , textures , 3d related documentation and like , and one 1,5 TB HDD to use as backup of the personal data and the system. (One 500 Gb partition for backup system, and hold clonezilla images, and one for backup the data for example)

By the moment what i have done , is use clonezilla to save a image of / and another image of /home in my other hard disk (I save a image of system installation in ext3 prior migrate to XFS , and later , one image with the system migrated to XFS) and i have used Rsync to copy both / and /home to two partitions in the other hard disk , so have a copy also of clonezilla images.

I think use clonezilla ,is useful to do each some time,so be able to have a fast way of recover the system , but i would like to implement a daily or weekly backup of my data and system , for example making a full backup and then incremental backups.

Perhaps for backup data this is a good aproach , but for backup configuration files , and the system in general ? , i mean , if i backup the things while using the system , could some files being not backuped , because being used ?

If i decide to install,for example, my new Wacom Intuos4 M tablet, for that i need to install the kernel source , and compile some modules and things by hand (because repository packages of wacom are a bit older than need for new intuos4) ,that will change my system and add new libraries and files to it.

If i make a full backup , and then incremental backups , each some time , if i have a problem or make a mistake when installing it or doing something , i have only to restore the backups via live cd, no ?

But if some files are being used , that, will not be backuped, so when restore it , that files , will be modern versions compared to the backup (perhaps that files would not be later modified , but who knows) and i could have problems no ?

Perhaps a solution is have a clonezilla image of the system prior the first full backup ,and restore it fist to have a new installation ,with all files , used included, and then restore the full backup of the 1h later ,and the incremental backups until the moment all gone bad , to have the system working again no ?

So i don't have to be worried by files used by the system as long as also of doing online backups , also have a exact image of my system , that will make me able to restore it in some minutes and don't have to install all , by hand and remember what i had installed.

Also that lets me to backup only , at least when doing full and incremental backups , the directories of the system that are dynamic, and change , and those that are static , backup them only one time.

whitewolf573 · Post by **whitewolf573** » 2009/12/25 18:10:27

I have forgotten to say that i use Centos 5.4 x86_64 for Desktop general usage and for 3d Modeling (By the moment , learning 3d modeling with a software called Maya ,to be able to work as 3d modeler in a future , also of being a hobby ),and i will use a disk for hold the desktop tipical data like music , and other for the 3d related.

By the moment it will not be a production environment (Perhaps one day i will work as freelance in 3d , but not yet) , but i want to have a backup strategy , so no lost all the data and work done.

So i don't want a too much complicated Backup system (i want something to backup data and system to a local hard disk) i am thinking in use BackupPC or Amanda , or perhaps rdiff-backup or some based rsync + cron script or a rsync based backup front-end to do easier make backups.

CiaW · Post by **CiaW** » 2009/12/27 22:31:42

I've only recently discovered clonezilla, but it may be that would be the way to go for complete system backup; and then for incremental (data, /home, etc) there is a program for CentOS that I've used that is essentially a front-end for rsync called Simple Backup. You can schedule backups and tell it which directories to back-up, etc.