Brad C wrote:
> But Ive hit a few snags
> 
> I have quiet a few linux servers that I use rsyncd to backup from 
> (security advantage of read only)
> Because they are servers and perform different functions the pooling of 
> files feature doesn't impact on disk utilisation.

If you are backing up the OS, pooling will save some space.

> This is all great and everything lands up in the topdir...
> 
> Here is the scenario.
> 
> I have 3 SATA2 drives all in drive bays.
> 
> Drive A - Onsite Backup for a group of linux servers for instant restores.
> Drive B - Onsite Backup dedicated for one specific server that needs to 
> be kept onsite but data seperate from the other servers.
> Drive C - Offsite Backup meant to be a duplicate of Drive A that gets 
> rotated weekly.
> 
> How should I approach this, There is quiet a large amount of data (close 
> to 2TB each night) that needs to be backed up.

Are the drives 1.5TB each?  Otherwise you aren't going to get two copies 
of it on 3 disks, even without considering history.

> I've read that you cant split topdir based on server, so I cant send one 
> server to Drive A and another server to Drive B.

It would theoretically be possible to run two instances of backuppc with 
different topdirs if you don't care about pooling.  I don't know if 
anyone has tried or if you'd have to adjust any port settings to avoid 
conflicts.  Otherwise you have to use LVM or raid to use multiple disks 
by making them appear to be one volume.

> File compression isnt a requirement.

Maybe...  If the files are compressable, you'll fit more history.

> Directory structure being kept intact would make sense?
> Eg: what happens if the building burns down and the backuppc host you 
> where using doesnt exist anymore, how would you restore?

Be prepared to install backuppc in a new machine where you can mount 
your offsite drive - or have it already waiting and tested somewhere.  I 
have a laptop that can dual-boot to linux and access an external SATA 
drive with a USB cable adapter for quick access.  It might be possible 
to do this with one of the distbutions that let you build custom 
bootable CDs.  Also note that you haven't mentioned an offsite copy of 
drive B.

> The archive function allows you to tar... but the limit on a tar file is 
> 2GB... which would meant it would split into 100 tar files... but then 
> where would I be able to which file was in which tar?

If you are restoring after a disaster, you'll want it all, but archives 
are more for long term storage or situations where you can't use the 
backuppc.

> Am I going about this in the right way, I know that amanda and bacula 
> are out there but the backup-pc provides the right information in a 
> simple to understand web UI.

I think you are short on space if you really have 2TB to back up. 
Others have commented on ways to get the disk copied, but you should 
also have at least 2 disks for the offsite copy.  If you start an image 
copy of your master disk and fail due to a disk error partway through 
you'll end up with no good copy.  Also, you should never have all copies 
in one place at the same time if the object is to have a backup for a 
building disaster.

-- 
   Les Mikesell
     lesmikesell AT gmail DOT com

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