Dave,
> I'd like to back up my linux machine, entirely. The
> ... media [choices] are zip disks, and a [network] tape drive,
> ...
For 4 of the last 5 years, I have been using a Colorado
tape drive (400MB) with tob (tape-oriented backup). I can
send you the URL for tob if you are unable to find it. Within
the last year, I have been using an HP SureStore 8100 CD writer.
This is much faster (40 min vs 6h) and much more convenient.
Recommendations:
o Use an archiver (e.g. tob) tool. Simple copies are
write-only memory as they are nearly as vulnerable
after a few years as your hard disk.
o Leave an index online (as most archiver tools do).
If you can't find it conveniently, only the most
important things (probably left on your hard disk
will be locatable).
o Use labels. Any librarian (or Indiana Jones) will tell
you that unlabelled or misplaced media is more
effectively lost than if buried. (CD-Rs are
available with writing and label surfaces.)
o Compare the archive with the contents, lest you find
when you need it that the backup failed.
o Backup by a schedule (e.g. monthly backup of what
changed + quarterly backup of everything). The
simple expectation lets you take advantage of
low-cost opportunities as well as mitigating your
risk of catastrophic loss.
o Keep a directory of links to files/directories that
you will delete as soon as you make a next backup.
I have been looking for years (and gradually developing)
a tool to continuously scan my disk in the background and
report on the time that a file has gone unused. My object is
to remove files that are unused without wasting time searching
many small files. Ideally, such a tool would periodically
list the size and access time of each file, and compute a
list of removal candidates weighted by user-defined rules and
sort the list. I've achieved partial success using perl
scripts and find. My general problem has been that
the scan itself resets the access time, and use of touch
has entangled me in a maze of permission limitations.
Does anyone know of such a tool?
Thank you,
Dr. Robert J. Meier FANUC Robotics North America
tel:+1.248.377.7469 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
