[lug] opinions on backup tools

[Walter Pienciak]

On Fri, 29 Dec 2000, Atkinson, Chip wrote:

> I like and use BRU.  It's proven reliable and can be run from cron.  I
> believe that taper is only interactive, which was why I stopped trying to
> use it.  The version of BRU that I have requires NFS mounts to back up
> remote machines, which may be a security hazard, but then again, you don't
> have to have a special server on the remote machines either.  As I recall,
> it wasn't too expensive and ran natively on Linux.
>
> Chip
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Erick Bodine [mailto:erick at xpedite.com]
> > Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2000 12:28 PM
> > To: LUG-DISCUSS
> > Subject: [lug] opinions on backup tools
> >
> >
> > I am currently in the process of implementing a tape backup
> > scheme for some parts of our R&D network.  I have the
> > hardware (Seagate Scorpion SCSI tape drive) already in place
> > on a Linux server.  I will be backing up that server as well
> > as 1-2 development
> > servers that are on the network.  Does anyone out there have
> > any opinions ;-) on BRU vs. Arkeia vs. taper (I realize taper
> > is at the low end of the spectrum). Or any other tape backup
> > tools for Linux?  My big concerns are the ability to back up over the
> > network and ease of restoration.  Price is not really an
> > object (though free is nice).  Another consideration is a
> > tool that could handle scaling up to an automated tape
> > library in the future.
> >
> > Any opinions, suggestions, experiences are appreciated.
> >
> > --Erick Bodine

Someone's already mentioned amanda, but I'll throw in my $0.02.
I've used amanda to do both local and remote backups for years
(4? 5? 6?  I don't remember) and have had no problems.  Restores
are easy, and though I don't make use of this feature, it does
apparently handle tape libraries.

Walter