jasonswett wrote:
I read through a good portion of W.Curtis Preston's book but I'm afraid I'm too
much of a beginner to know where to start with my solution. I think I want to
use Amanda but everything I've read on the Amanda site is too narrow and
specific.
Here's what I have:
I have two Linux boxes. One is a development server and one is a production
server. Each is running a database instance that I want to back up.
I also have two Macs and one PC that are just workstations.
I've looked into Amanda a little bit but just came out confused. I don't have
any storage media but I'm willing to buy some.
Can anyone help point me in the right direction?
It's good that you have the book. There is lots of interesting and
useful information there. The chapter on Amanda is a neat summary; but,
fortunately or unfortunately, things change very fast in the world of
open source software when you have an active and productive development
team.
The best place to get up to speed and to look up terminology and
concepts is the Zmanda wiki: http://wiki.zmanda.com/index.php/Main_Page.
There is a quick start guide there. If you have your idea of how to
proceed, you can follow the quick start guide and just jump out to other
pages in the wiki to fill in detail. The diagram on the main Zmanda
Amanda page: http://amanda.zmanda.com/ gives you a quick conceptual
overview, indicating that you can backup to disk, to tape, or to the
cloud. You should also make sure you understand this page:
http://wiki.zmanda.com/index.php/FAQ:How_are_backup_levels_defined_and_how_does_Amanda_use_them%3F
before you get started. Amanda does an excellent job of planning
backups. Too many people, on first looking to Amanda, try to squeeze it
into backup strategies based on other backup software.
As you are mentioning databases, please tell us what those are.
Typically, databases can require special treatment.
Welcome to Amanda. And do come back to the list with any questions you
might have.
--
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Chris Hoogendyk
-
O__ ---- Systems Administrator
c/ /'_ --- Biology & Geology Departments
(*) \(*) -- 140 Morrill Science Center
~~~~~~~~~~ - University of Massachusetts, Amherst
<hoogen...@bio.umass.edu>
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Erdös 4
