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Network-based Encrypted Backup in 15 Minutes

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the avoid-the-noid dept.

Amanda writes "Many of us plan for mundane (but important) tasks like setting up backup during long weekends. Much of it is because of complexity and cumbersome nature of the tasks involved. This article shows how to quickly and securely set up a network-based backup, all using freely downloadable software tools like Amanda, Samba and Tar."

6 of 25 comments (clear)

  1. 15 Minutes for a Pizza? by neonprimetime · · Score: 4, Funny

    The 15-Minute Backup Solution
    Secure Network Backups in a Heterogeneous Environment in the Time it Takes to Have Pizza Delivered

    That's some crazy Sh!t ... Round here it's more like 1 hour

    1. Re:15 Minutes for a Pizza? by snax · · Score: 3, Funny

      OK, then, how about Thai? I swear they know what I want before I do....

  2. 15 minutes?!? There's a catch. by sakusha · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The catch is, it's supposed to take 15 minutes to SET UP the backup system, not to actually PERFORM the backup.

    I suspect it will be a long time before I have a fast enough network connection to back up my (90% full) 950Gb RAID over a network in 15 minutes. And then there's the issue of the CPU horsepower required to encrypt all those hundreds of gigs of data. And come to think of it, this system doesn't really have any way to test if the backup actually WORKS, other than by restoring it to the primary system and wiping out the original data. And you know what will happen if you restore a hosed backup over your live production system.

    1. Re:15 minutes?!? There's a catch. by gbjbaanb · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That depends - if you perform incremental backups then 15 minutes of more than feasible. Try BackupPc for a easy-to-use rsync solution with a web front end for restores. I'm not sure about the encrypted bit though, but it can copy over a SSH tunnel.

      Alternatively, try Mozy for 2 gig of free online encrypted backups with individual file restores. (yes, someone hosts it and they expect you to pay for more storage space, but its useful for your important stuff at least)

  3. 15 minutes ? by B2382F29 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Far too long. I just use rdiff-backup for easy incremental remote backups (Including ACL and extended attributes).

    I still don't know why it is so unknown...

    --
    Move Sig. For great justice.
  4. I think this is dangerous advice.... by gweihir · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It seems to me that the 15 minuten setup guide does neither do nor stress the importance of comparing the backup to the original after it has been written. Comparison serves two purposes:

    a) Make sure your backup is readable
    b) Make sure your backup decrypts and is equal to the original data

    Especially b) is often not the case due to RAM errors and other problems. With encryption a single bit-error after encryption can make your whole file permanently unreadable. a) can be violated by a number of things, but when you need that backup, it is too late to find out.

    Never, ever do backup without full compare afterwards! From time to time do a full restoration to other hardware to be sure you know how to do it and that it works!

    Seems to me this is really worth only the 15 minutes you need to put into it. But it can give you a dangerou, false sense of having understood how to do good backups.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.