BackupPC-users

Re: [BackupPC-users] first "full" never completes

2011-09-04 13:23:07
Subject: Re: [BackupPC-users] first "full" never completes
From: Timothy J Massey <tmassey AT obscorp DOT com>
To: "General list for user discussion, questions and support" <backuppc-users AT lists.sourceforge DOT net>
Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2011 13:15:26 -0400
This is my last reply to this thread.  Explained below:

hansbkk AT gmail DOT com wrote on 09/04/2011 01:41:57 AM:

> (I didn't realize BPC
> permissions could vary from one distro to another).


<Snip>

> Re OS choices, I don't have the access, knowledge or desire to do my
> initial learning/experimentation in the production CentOS CLI
> environment; for many aspects it's so much easier to work with
> a distro like Ubuntu at this stage. Once I'm confident I've got the
> BPC side of things working just right, the CentOS guy can set up the
> production server however he likes.


So, you understand that each distribution is going to set things up differently, which is very likely to contribute to future problems, yet you decide to voluntarily deal with such problems.  All of this after stating that you do not have sufficient skills to even know when you *might* be running into problems.

My time is too valuable to put band-aids on people who after being told not to run with scissors (and acknowledge the stupidity of running with scissors), insist on doing it (again).

> My ultimate goal is to have a self-contained BackupPC HDD - conf and
> log physically under TOPDIR - which in the event of a disaster can
> be mounted to a new host running an arbitrary distro, possibly
> needing to be created by a staffer even more ignorant of Linux than
> myself supported by a step-by-step howto. Ideally I'd like to figure
> out how to create a customized BackupPC LiveCD that could be stored
> with the drive(s) offsite. 


But seeing as I'm already replying to this one, I will add one more thing (and not politely, because I'm annoyed):

Your solution demonstrates what is to me a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of the role of a backup server.

You want to dangle a hard drive onto a production server, put BackupPC on that server and consider that a backup?  This is wrong on *SO* many levels.  It's the wrong configuration, it's the wrong tool and it's serving a purpose that makes almost no sense.

Why would you create a solution such  that when one system fails, you risk losing both the production data AND THE BACKUP DATA all at the same time.  Imagine a power supply failure.  Couldn't it take out both hard drives?  Sure can.  How about a malicious user that runs "rm -rf /".  Gonna wipe out the backup data too.  I can come up with a DOZEN scenarios with zero effort.

If a 35% solution works for you, great.  But most people would usually prefer a more useful one.

> These goals also support my doing the learning/configuration work on
> an alternative distro.


Ah, but your backwards of accomplishing this does not encourage at least me to help you in the least.  *You* may want to learn all those differences, but I sure do not want to waste my time teaching them to you.  Why should I?  This is not a "new-linux-traning" list. It's the BackupPC list.  Yet you, in your ignorance, *will* make the rest of us teach you just because you cannot identify the difference between a new-linux-user mistake and a new-BackupPC-user mistake.  That happens every day around here.  BUT YOU ARE INTENTIONALLY MAKING THE PROBLEM WORSE, even AFTER we have told you NOT TO!

So you are on your own.  After all, you have the source.  Feel free to use it.

> But for now, I am starting from scratch with 3.1 on Lucid, working
> step by step in departing from the defaults, testing and keeping
> careful notes in case I need to come back here with further issues,
> so as not to waste you guys' time further.


Too late.

Timothy J. Massey
 
Out of the Box Solutions, Inc.
Creative IT Solutions Made Simple!

http://www.OutOfTheBoxSolutions.com
tmassey AT obscorp DOT com
      22108 Harper Ave.
St. Clair Shores, MI 48080
Office: (800)750-4OBS (4627)
Cell: (586)945-8796

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