Re: backup archive format saved to disk



Douglas Tutty wrote:
I'm going to be backing up to a portable ruggedized hard drive.
Currently, my backups end up in tar.bz2 format.

It would be nice if there was some redundancy in the data stream to
handle blocks that go bad while the drive is in storage (e.g. archive).

How is this handled on tape? Is it built-into the hardware
compression?

Do I need to put a file system on a disk partition if I'm only saving
one archive file or can I just write the archive to the partition
directly (and read it back) as if it was a scsi tape?

Is there an archive or compression format that includes the ability to
not only detect errors but to correct them? (e.g. store ECC data
elsewhere in the file) If there was, and I could write it directly to
the disk, then that would solve the blocks-failing-while-drive-stored
issue.

Now, to something completely different....
If data integrity is your concern, than maybe a better solution than
compression is to copy all your data with rsync or another backup tool
that 'mirrors' your files instead of packing them all together in one
large file. If something goes wrong with this large file you might loose
the backup of all your files. If something goes wrong with the
transmission of one file in the rsync case you will only 'loose' the
backup of that one file and just restart the rsync command.

Well, at least I much prefer to spend a bit more on storage and have all
my files copied individually. It adds the benefit that it is
straightforward to verify the integrity of the backup via 'diff -r'.

As far as redundancy is concerned I would prefer to use a second disk
(and while you are at it store it in a different location, miles away
from the other). I have one backup at home and another one at my
mother's house, adding several layers of security to my data.

Johannes

NB: Are you using a journal for your fs?


--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-REQUEST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Relevant Pages

  • Re: blue screen stkop:0x00000024,0x00190203,0x82352238,0xc0000120,
    ... Some Dell computers have a hidden partition containing a backup copy of the operating system and some rely on recovery disks. ... is it possible to just somehow format and then ... system to read and write to NTFS file system drives. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain)
  • Re: XP Home Edition - ntbackup.msi
    ... app that is reliable and has a well-understood file format. ... Backup Plus uses the Zip format (though its files are ... as I cannot view the backed up files either on tape ... like any other disk. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: FAT32 or NTFS for backup?
    ... Then the PC checked the file system twice, ... Big_Al mentioned there is a file size limitation with FAT32. ... hard disk failure then consider creating an Image Backup ... It really does not matter which format type you use. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: 18 Features Windows Should Have (but Doesnt)
    ... That is exactly what the Backup does on the Windows Vista Ultimate ... pre-checked are all the user data files. ... ISO is the major disk image format. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: Backup to a Flash Drive
    ... Then I ran my backup of selected files that required 5.39 GB for the backup file successfully. ... If you are using a backup utility that makes one file, like a zip file then the issue might be the format of the flash. ... It even adds a help icon too. ... Its not a real messy install like some programs. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)