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Online Website Backup Options?
pdcull writes "I can't be the only person on the planet who has this problem: I have a couple of websites, with around 2 GB of space in use on my hosting provider, plus a few MySQL databases. I need to keep up-to-date backups, as my host provides only a minimal backup function. However, with a Net connection that only gets to 150 Kbps on a good day, there is no way I can guarantee a decent backup on my home PC using FTP. So my question is: does anybody provide an online service where I can feed them a URL, an FTP password, and some money, and they will post me DVDs with my websites on them? If such services do exist (the closest I found was a site that promised to send CDs and had a special deal for customers that had expired in June!), has anybody had experience with them which they could share? Any recommendations of services to use or to avoid?"
Rather than "posting DVDs" I'd go for something like Amazon's S3 and just dump the backup to them. Here is a list of S3 Backup solutions that would do the job.
I've personally moved away from hard-media as much as possible because the issue on restore is normally about the speed to get it back on the server and its there that online solutions really win as they have the peering arrangements to get you the bandwidth.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
It seems like the only problem with your home computer is FTP. Why not use rsync, which does things much more intelligently - and with checksumming, guarantees correct data?
The first time would be slow, but after that, things would go MUCH faster. Shoot, if you set up SSH keys, you can automate the entire process.
Oh, you're not stuck, you're just unable to let go of the onion rings.
Then what you need is rdiff-backup, works like rsync except it keeps older copies stored as diffs.
As for FTP, why the hell does anyone still use ftp? It's insecure, works badly with nat (which is all too common) and really offers nothing you don't get from other protocols.
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rsync to get the data, cp -al to keep snapshots. I've been using this for years to manage TB of data over relatively low-speed links. You'll take a hit first-time (so kick it off at night, kill it in the morning, and the next night just execute the same command and it'll eventually catch up, then cp -al it, then lather rinse, repeat. This page: http://www.mikerubel.org/computers/rsync_snapshots/ has been about for years. Use it!
...because if you are and you're planning to sent personal data (there can't be many 2GB web sites that contain no personal data at all) on DVD through the mail, you might want to look at recent pronouncements from the Information Commissioner. A large fine could be waiting for you if you go down that route.
Then what you need is rdiff-backup, works like rsync except it keeps older copies stored as diffs.
Another option is to use the --link-dest option to rsync. You give rsync a list of the older backups (with --link-dest), and the new backup is made using hard links to the old files where they're identical.
I haven't looked at rdiff-backup, it probably provides similar functionality.
Part of my backups script (written for zsh):
setopt nullglob
older=($backups/*(/om))
unsetopt nullglob
rsync --verbose -8 --archive --recursive --link-dest=${^older[1,20]} \
user@server:/ $backups/$date/
There is also the --backup --backup-dir options (you'll need both). It keeps a copy of the files that have been deleted or changed, if you use a script to keep it in seperate directories you'll have a pretty good history of all the changes.
New things are always on the horizon
Hi everyone, I didn't mention in my question that where I'm living (Rio de Janeiro slum) there aren't that many options for internet access. Also, as all my sites are my very much not-for-profit, I'm limited as to how much I can spend on my hosting plan. I've been using Lunarpages for a number of years now, and generally find them very good, although if I stupidly overwrite a file, or want to go back to a previous version of something, I'm out of luck. As I am a lazy (read time-challenged) individual, I tend to use Pmwiki and maintain my sites online, hence my need for regular, physical backups. Anyway, thanks everyone for your help, I still can't help thinking that somebody must be able to make a pile of cash offering such as service to non-techie site owners...