[TriLUG] noob backup options?

[Steve Litt]

On Sunday 07 October 2007 13:47, Kevin Hunter wrote:
> Hullo List,
>
> I'm excited that I've finally convinced my father that he would be
> better served by his computer if it were running Linux.  I feel that
> most distros are now to the point of usability, even for him.  I've got
> all of his software needs covered.  What I am not yet able to help with
> is a backup solution.  Granted he has no backup solution now, but he's
> asked for one in this next iteration.
>
> My problem is that I've never had to worry about backing up my data so
> I'm not sure how to council/help him.  What are some of my options at
> this point?  My constraint is money (as always, right?), at about $100
> for the entire backup system.
>
> I was initially thinking that I'd mdadm his system with a new drive, but
> now I'm wondering if he wouldn't be well served by having a revision
> system set up as well.  Something like having an SVN repository on
> another drive.  That's annoying for him because then he'd have .svn/
> directories all over the place.  (Which actually, since he'll *never*
> use the cmdline, wouldn't be such a big deal, eh?)
>
> Any thoughts to get me started?
>
> Thanks in advance,

Here's what I do:

http://www.troubleshooters.cxm/lpm/200609/200609.htm

Here's the original source of this information:

http://www.sanitarium.net/golug/rsync_backups.html

Basically, I rsync back up the computer to the hard drive on another box, so 
in your case back up your Dad's computer to your computer, assuming you both 
live in the same house. Then, at your leasure, back up the rsync backup to 
DVD. The Rsync backup keeps versions so you can go back to a given date.

HTH

SteveT

Steve Litt
Author: Universal Troubleshooting Process books and courseware
http://www.troubleshooters.com/