[TriLUG] noob backup options?

[Matt Pusateri]

Do you want to backup his data or the OS as well?

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,
>
> Kevin
>