Tag: backup

About

In information technology, backup refers to making copies of data so that these additional copies may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. These additional copies are typically called "backups." Backups are useful primarily for two purposes: 1) to restore a computer to an operational state following a disaster (called disaster recovery) and 2) to restore small numbers of files after they have been accidentally deleted or corrupted.

Due to a considerable overlap in technology, backups and backup systems are frequently confused with archives and fault-tolerant systems. Backups differ from archives in the sense that archives are the primary copy of data and backups are a secondary copy of data. Backup systems differ from fault-tolerant systems in the sense that backup systems assume that a fault will cause a data loss event and fault-tolerant systems assume a fault will not. Backups are typically that last line of defense against data loss, and consequently the least granular and the least convenient to use.

Since a backup system contains at least one copy of all data worth saving, the data storage requirements are considerable. Organizing this storage space and managing the backup process is a complicated undertaking.

From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backup

 

Tranfer all MySQL databases to another server

Recently I had to migrate all MySQL databases from one server to another. This was a one time only operation, so setting up replication wasn't an option. And restoring a backup on the new server involved more downtime than strictly necessary. I figured the most ideal way would be to dump the active MySQL directly into the new MySQL instance. And that's what I did.

Synchronize files with rsync

Synchronizing files from one server to another is quite awesome. You can use it for backups, for keeping web servers in sync, and much more. It's fast and it doesn't take up as much bandwidth as normal copying would. And the best thing is, it can be done with only 1 command. Welcome to the wonderful world of rsync.

Restore packages using dselect-upgrade

It's always a good idea to backup important data. Your files and settings can easily be archived. But how can you backup & restore all applications that you've installed over the last couple of years? Here's an easy trick that works for both desktops & servers, and that can also be used to synchronize installed packages in a web cluster, making all the servers run the same software.