Hello all,

I'm getting ready to start using Amanda as a backup solution. To prepare, I've
read  the online documentation and I've also read a section in the Red Hat Linux
Bible. I also read through the FAQ's. I am a bit confused with some items.
Mainly the configuration. The amanda comes with the DailySet1 as an example.

Is it possibly to only use 1 configuration (eg DailySet1) to accomplish both the
full and the incremental backups? From past experiences with other backup
utilites, one would create and schedule both full and incremental's (as does the
Red Hat Bible's example). The thing that further confuses me is how to define an
incremental. The backup for the full is easy enough in the disklist file to call
the 'always-full' definition. Where I'm confused is which types are for the
incremental. From what I've read some of the attributes it looks as if it can
figure this out with the following settings. The following is from the example
amanda.conf file. I've added what I think I want to accomplish as well:

dumpcycle 4 weeks       # the number of days in the normal dump cycle

I'm planning a weekly cycle: Every Friday a full backup so I'm assuming it would
be:

dumpcycle 1 week

runspercycle 4 weeks    # the number of amdump runs in dumpcycle days

Now I'm planning on doing incrementals from Monday - Thursday and a full on
Friday:

runspercycle 5 days ???

tapecycle 25 tapes      # the number of tapes in rotation
                        # 4 weeks (dumpcycle) times 5 tapes per week (just
                        # the weekdays) plus a few to handle errors that
                        # need amflush and so we do not overwrite the full
                        # backups performed at the beginning of the previous
                        # cycle

I understand I have to figure out what my capacity requirements are.

If one configuration for the full and one for the incrementals are needed I'd be
interested in how these are configured...


I'm also looking for advice on recommendations for single tape drives for linux
as well as media types. I don't want to further complicate my introduction with
additional configuration issues.

Thanks for the help in advance

James
RHCE