[mythtv-users] Bad News for me...a warning to all

[mtrisko]

I use backuppc, and I'm very glad that I do.  

http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/

It's not hard to set up, and once it's there, backups just happen.  It uses
a file pool so that identical files (whether across backups or across
multiple boxes) are only stored once.  It includes a web interface for
monitoring status of backups, doing restores, etc., and has other nice
features like e-mail alerts if backups haven't happened for a while for a
particular host.  It can use different connection methods (e.g., smb, ssh,
rsyncd) and transfer methods (e.g., smbclient, tar, rsync).

I'm backing up 5 PCs (including the backup server itself), which include
both Windows and Linux boxes.  In total right now it's storing 71 full
backups and 73 incrementals, which before pooling and compression would be
about 465GB of data.  After pooling and compression, the backuppc file pool
is about 58GB.  Not bad for peace of mind IMO--I highly recommend it.

I did learn my lesson the hard way, losing data that I really wish I could
get back.  Never again.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org
[mailto:mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org] On Behalf Of Boyd II, Willy
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2004 9:18 AM
To: Discussion about mythtv
Subject: RE: [mythtv-users] Bad News for me...a warning to all


>-----Original Message-----
>From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org 
>[mailto:mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org] 
>Sent: Friday, April 23, 2004 8:54 AM
>To: Discussion about mythtv
>Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Bad News for me...a warning to all
>
>
>> Anyway, thought I'd warn anyone out there...If your case 
>seems really 
>> hot - prepare for disaster.
>
>And sometimes drives go bad without excessive heat.
>
>This is why I use tar to backup my system (everything but the .nuv
>files) across the network to a different Linux box (my 
>desktop) before and after I upgrade any software.
>
>I would lose all my recorded shows with a drive crash, but I 
>could get the backend back up and running fairly easily.
>
>I also restored my backend tar-file on a different box to 
>create a frontend-only PC with just a few easy tweaks.

The backing-up is a great idea.  I lost like 3 weeks of code a while
back, and backups was all I thought about right afterwards.  Sadly, it
remained an afterthought, and I still haven't done anything about it.

One thing that worries me, is that lm_sensors gives meaningless values
on my Chaintech 7nif2.. I mean the temps are all over the place... and
from the limited research I've done, I couldn't find a remedy.  Has
anyone else tried using the sensors on the 7nif2?  Also, someone
mentioned using the smartd tools for drives... I don't know how much
time this gives you in the event of a disaster, but I installed and
setup the alerts anyhow.

- Willy

>
> - BS
>
>