[mythtv-users] MythTV backup

[Yeechang Lee]

Dan Ritter <dsr-myth at tao.merseine.nu> says:
> Let's go all-out for a moment.

Here's how my setup compares.

> 1. Dual power supply server, with two indpendent UPS and a
> standby generator.

Not sure how redundant the power supply in my quad-core server that
runs my master backend and the bulk of the recordings storage is, but
it does have three separate power inputs and is running off an UPS.

> 2. RAID-1 or RAID-10 disks to store everything. You double your
> storage cost but your data is safe against most disk failures.

RAID 6. (RAID 5 at the moment, because one of the 16 drives is
problematic.)

> 3. Hourly rsync of database dump and all recorded files to an
> independent NAS, preferably running a different OS from your big
> machine.

I used to back up the database every two hours, but lately have
settled for three times a day to minimize the 45-60 seconds of
unresponsive frontend
(<URL:http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/247868#247868>). The
backups do go on an independent NAS, though. I also run my own
rsync-based script on all my Linux boxes (two for MythTV, one VMware
VM, one older general-purpose that I will eventually convert to a VM)
that backs up /etc, /home, and /usr/local to that NAS every two hours
and rotates backups on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly
basis.

> 4. Spares, in static-proof, waterproof storage, preferably in a
> separate building.

Besides the above master backend, my frontend/slave backend has served
in the past as both the master backend and as a replacement master
backend. Thanks to the decentralized MythTV architecture, all it takes
is changing the IP address in one place. I hope/expect that at some
point any server in a MythTV cluster will be able to act as the master
on the fly, and that even that IP-address will no longer be necessary.

Similarly, I have in the past used my notebook as a replacement
frontend
(<URL:http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/214869#214869>).

> 5. As many independent program sources as you can arrange: OTA,
> cable, satellite, perhaps a second cable source or equivalent if
> you live in a place where that's an option. 

I use OTA and cable. Since one of the backends handles OTA and the
other cable, this indeed provides redundancy of the kind you're
talking about. Just this week, my slave backend was temporarily out of
commission but the master backend simply rescheduled accordingly,
assigning programs also available OTA to those tuners and temporarily
suspending the rest. When the slave backend resurrected, another
automatic rescheduling restored the status quo.

Dan was mocking David's overly open-ended question with a bit of
reductio ad absurdum, but my point is that simply using MythTV--in
ways that a typical Linux user who is savvy about things like using
RAID and UPSs in general, not necessarily specifically for MythTV
(that UPS is seven years old)--provides a remarkable amount of
reduncancy in and of itself.

-- 
Frontend:		P4 3.0GHz, 1.5TB software RAID 5 array
Backend:		Quad-core Xeon 1.6GHz, 6.6TB sw RAID 6
Video inputs:		Four high-definition over FireWire/OTA
Accessories:		47" 1080p LCD, 5.1 digital, and MX-600