On Wed, 2024-01-17 at 09:19 -0800, David Christensen wrote:
> On 1/17/24 08:19, Default User wrote:
> > Hello!
> >
> > Opinions, please.
> >
> > I use rsync to copy my primary backup drive to a secondary backup
> > drive
> > , so that the secondary backup drive is theoretically always an
> > exact
> > copy of the primary backup drive.
> >
> > Here is the rsync command I use:
> >
> > time sudo rsync -aAXHxvv --delete-after --numeric-ids --
> > info=progress2,stats2,name2 --
> > exclude={"/dev/*","/proc/*","/sys/*","/tmp/*","/run/*","/mnt/*","/m
> > edia
> > /*","/lost+found"} /media/default/MSD0001/ /media/default/MSD0002/
> >
> > Question:
> > I use rsync --delete-after because it might seem to be "safer", so
> > in
> > case of a "glitch" of any kind, no file ever disappears from both
> > the
> > source drive and the destination drive.
> >
> > However, I have read that using rsync --delete instead of rsync --
> > delete-after is faster and uses less memory, and so is more
> > efficient.
> >
> > Note: The current copy process time varies, but takes a long time -
> > last night 131 minutes.
> > :(
> >
> > Disk space used is not currently an issue.
> >
> > But, is rsync --delete AS SAFE as rsync --delete-after?
>
>
> In the past, I used the --backup and --backup-dir options to retain
> files on the destination.
>
>
> Then I moved my primary backup to ZFS, implemented snapshots, and
> implemented replication to the secondard backup devices.
>
>
> David
>
Hi guys, thanks for the replies.
BTW, the two backup drives are external 4 Gb USB HDDs. The secondary
backup drive is always kept away from the computer, in a locked steel
box, except when it is attached to the computer to have the primary
backup drive copied to it.
The primary backup drive is almost always attached to the computer, so
that I can access files archived there, that are not on the computer.
Probably not good practice, but that's why I have the secondary backup
drive.
I guess in the back of my mind I was thinking of a scenario where a
file on the primary backup drive might be corrupted or deleted before
being copied to the secondary backup drive. Then if it is not present
on the primary backup drive, rsync dutifully deletes it from the
secondary backup drive. If the file is no longer on the computer's
internal SSD, I am then SOL.
BTW(2), I do use rsnapshot with cron jobs to back up the internal SSD
to the primary backup drive daily (and weekly, monthly, yearly). But I
am not sure if I could also use it to do copies of the primary backup
drive to the secondary backup drive (maybe using an additional
configuration file)?
I have also thought of trying to use partclone to copy the data from
the primary backup drive to the secondary backup drive. Why not try,
since rsync takes an hour and a half, every day!
As for ZFS . . . I wish! But I think the resource requirements would
be too high for my setup, so it probably would be impractical - or
impossible. And then there's the complexity. And the learning curve.
Finally I really should have a third backup drive in the mix. Yes, I
am familiar with the 1-2-3 backup theory. But the third backup drive
could not be off-site, for various reasons. And I do have other things
to do rather than spend all day, every day, managing backups.
<Sigh.>
