>... Things >aren't going to be on the same inode (as they would be with dump) ...
Not sure if I'm reading this right, but if you're implying that a restore from a backup image created with "dump" will bring things back with the same inode number, that's not right. The "restore" program that goes along with "dump" is just a user level program with no magic. It does normal file system "open" and "write" calls, then resets the various attributes like modification time (again, with normal OS calls). So files come back to whatever inode is handed out by the OS. >and I'm >not sure about stuff like /dev -- it probably won't get that right. I'm not getting into this argument again (been there, done that :-), but this was the very thing Dick was concerned about. I *thought* the combination of the way Amanda runs GNU tar and extra features of GNU tar itself brought most everything back properly. The important point here, of course, is that with **any** backup system you should test, test, test and then test some more. Amanda+gtar will either do what you want or it won't. If it won't, figure out what you need and adjust the procedures until you're covered. >Joshua Baker-LePain John R. Jackson, Technical Software Specialist, [EMAIL PROTECTED]