Gerhard Fiedler wrote:
> At the end of a week, I start a new backup cycle with a new base line
> (full) backup. Each day during the week I add an incremental backup to
> that. I keep two full weeks of these daily backups, plus a selection of
> baseline backups that go back at least two months. Every week I take a 
> copy
> of all this to an offsite location. One drive is internal and is where I 
> do
> my backups to. Another drive has a copy of that (to be taken offsite at 
> the
> end of the week), and still another drive is offsite during the week
> (coming onsite at the end of the week).
>
> (Ok, that offsite thing is on hold until I get to the US the next time and
> buy a couple of USB 2 external drives, but the idea is as good as done :)

:)

What software do you use for incremental backups? What OS do you run on your 
server?

>> It seems to me that a hybrid system (drives for short-term stuff, tapes
>> for long term) is the best solution, from POV of
>> cost/reliability/simplicity.
>
> Maybe, maybe not.
>
> I don't like tapes for simplicity. I used to think that they were a good
> idea, but my experiences were that they never worked well. YMMV, of 
> course,
> and I didn't have the real high-end stuff. (But if you have, cost becomes 
> a
> major factor.) I think there are few other media that are as simple to use
> as hard disks.
>
> I'm not sure tapes are as reliable as hard disks for long term storage. 
> I'm
> pretty sure that a hard disk can be read in ten years; I wouldn't be so
> sure with tapes. (I'm not talking about interface and protocol issues, 
> just
> about media.) The only damaging factor where they have an advantage is
> shock, but that can usually be prevented, and generally will be noticed
> right away if it happens and can be taken care of.
>
> And cost... are you sure that your cost per GB is lower with tapes than it
> would be with hard disks?

Well, right now each tape is a full backup (no increments), so if we 
replaced each tape with a hard drive, it would get pretty expensive.

But your system makes sense, I'm just curious how realiable and convenient 
it is.

How hard is it to get the Tuesday version of a particular file?

And if I understand correctly, if your hard drive gets zapped on Friday, you 
lose an entire week?

Vitaliy 

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