[svlug] Backup strategies (was: Reminder: SVLUG mailing list server failure risk, gap in backups)

[Rick Moen]

Hey, folks, I know that topic drift happens, but might I suggest that people
change the Subject header if they digress from dire threats to SVLUG's
mailing list server to, e.g., chatting about tech. groups in Orlando and El
Paso?   Maybe even a new thread?

Tusen takk.


Scott DuBois wrote:

> Some people go so far as to simply clone _everything_ from one drive to
> another. How the restore from that? Who the hell knows.

There are edge cases where bitwise copies of a drive or filesystem make
sense.  (All you'll need to do, to hear about them, is rashly claim they
don't exist, and a flying squadron of quibblers supplemented by anyone who's
ever disliked you will immediately materialise and work frantically to prove
you wrong.)

The main reason you hear about people attempting to backup a Linux system in
file-by-file fashion by grabbing everything from the root downwards is...
not knowing which subtrees merit backing up.  If you're worried about
missing something important, the 'safe' option seems to be the 'grab
everything' one.  And that, in turn, motivates people to attempt pointless
things like backing up /proc, /sys, and /dev.

(Same for /run, which I gather must be an Ubuntu barbarism?  Should still be
/var/run, IMO.  Wasn't broken, shouldn't have been fixed.)