software for back-ups

BudBud Chesterfield, Va
edited March 2004 in Science & Tech
I need some good back-up software. one for a linux box and one for a windows box. I would also like them to send to a networked hard drive and if possiable to it automated (but thats not a big deal)

Comments

  • MediaManMediaMan Powered by loose parts.
    edited March 2004
    I find Norton Ghost to be very reliable. Backup to file, DVD-R, Spanned, NTFS and the works. I haven't tried making an automated backup though.

    I'm sure Prime is the expert here as he is the brains behind SM's nightly backups.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2004
    It's easy. Hire a unix expert and then have him write custom backup scripts. Voila!


    ;D

    I'm no expert - I just have skilled staff.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited March 2004
    For Linux, look at Mondo and Mindi (these are open source, can be cron'd, like tape backups best, but the scripts can be modded many ways). Also look up, in your man lookup:

    man cron
    info cron

    and

    man atd
    info atd

    In Linux, scheduling is easy. And, in Linux, you can can also use the
    dd command to push a disk image onto another physcial drive in same box (basicly, dd anf df are your imaging commands on Linux console, you can also use the man command to look them up and if you want printouts try:

    man COMMAND | lpr

    so,

    man cron | lpr would send the cron manual pages to the default printer for your linux box.

    For backup in Windows, look at a PowerQuest product called Drive Image and the best version for XP is version 7.0 and I would buy it direct unless Atomic Park has it already. Schedulable, backs up partitions or whole drives, to CD, DVD, USB devices, and has native network support to push backups to another computer's HD with spare space. Not hypercheap, very versatile and the vewrstility is a large part of its value. Ghost in enterprise version is also good, last I checked Drive Image was one HECK of a lot cheaper. Enterprise Ghost is like Ghost Pro with network support in it, but licensing is more expensive.

    Let me explain something:

    Both my Linux\BSD\XP-sometimes box and my Windows XP-always box have multiple HDs in them. Critical stuff gets backed up daily to one of two HDs in the smoetimes box, to FAT32 partitions-- this is all work stuff, email snapshots of email folders, the My Documents folder, etc.

    My O\S Boot drives (PHYSICAL drives) ARE NOT where my work data resides. My work data is saved to a seperate HD mech from my XP boot drive, on both boxes. XP's boot drive, on both boxes, is a 40 GB drive and work drive is an 80 GB, on both boxes.

    Linux can use a sync routine and it can be croned, only files that change end up changed in backup. rsync can be used for a backup sync over a network, or you can FTP the stuff if both ends are Linux and the target FTP serves. With Windows on one end, things get harder, but the Windows end can use something like FTP Voyager and backup to a Linux box for its host, to a FAT32 partition on the Linux box. Mondo and Mindi are two complementary halves of a Backup\Recover routine, for Linux. They are basically working templates, that you can customize to your skill level.



    John D.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2004
    Ghost and Partition Magic are great for saving drive images.

    For file backups (docs, mp3's, etc) I use the Windows Backup. I regularly backup about 8GB of docs and it goes surprisingly fast to another comp on my network. Being free is nice, too.

    Backup is included in the install options for WinXP Pro. One of Microsoft's little secrets is that it is also included on the XP Home disc - you just have to hunt for it. Look on the CD in \VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP. The program is "NTBACKUP.MSI".

    Sorry, can't help with linux...
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