[mythtv-users] MythTV backup

[Tim Phipps]

David Segall wrote:
> Yesterday I thought I might have lost all my MythTV data. Fortunately, 
> the fix was simple but it made me wonder how I could protect my set up 
> from catastrophic failure.
> 
> Operating a redundant fall back computer seems like overkill for this 
> application but I don't see any other solution to ensuring that MythTV 
> satisfies the SOAF [1] factor.
> 
> How do you ensure that your fried MythTV can be restored in time for the 
> nightly news and you have not lost the latest episode of the unmissable 
> series that screened last night when you were out?
> 
You can't, but to cover the most common causes of downtime I have the OS 
on RAID1 (make sure you install grub on both and test it by yanking out 
drives). Most data is on RAID5, the bits that are unraidable (different 
sized disks) are used for soaps (thanks to storage groups). I also have 
a 120GB disk in an external case for backups (doesn't cover DVD rips and 
TV). I keep the backup drive in the greenhouse at the end of the garden. 
In a plastic box under a bench so it should be protected from falling 
debris from the house. If they both get destroyed I'll have more 
problems than missing home videos. I've also burnt VCDs and photoCDs for 
the grandparents of the really precious stuff.

For online integrity I run AIDE nightly and backup the Myth DB weekly.

For stability I run svn-0.21-fixes.

> [1] SOAF = Significant Other Acceptance Factor. Clearly, GAF and WAF are 
> sexist so I thought of using PAF for Partner Acceptance Factor but that 
>   did not cover the MythTV geeks who are living with their aged parents.

FAF - Family acceptance factor probably covers it. "Mummy, why is the 
chooser not working?", "Daddy is just faf'ing around with his backend 
again".

Cheers,
Tim.