Data / Internal Data backups

[Marc]

Hi Guys,
Just want to check I am correct it what I am thinking. Im sorting out some backups on my site. At present I download to my PC but Im automating this task to somewhere on another server.

So a few questions:

1. Other than my database, the only other thing that would change on my site are the data & internal data directories. I am right it saying this?
2. The internal and data directories, if I backup from the latest numbered folder I already have on my backup server (including that folder in case changes were made) and every number after this, I would have all the files backed up? ie. no need to back up numbers prior to this again as I already have these. Also assuming this to be correct but want to make sure.

 

[Paul B]

Other than my database, the only other thing that would change on my site are the data & internal data directories. I am right it saying this?

Correct, that's where avatars and attachments are stored.

The internal and data directories, if I backup from the latest numbered folder I already have on my backup server (including that folder in case changes were made) and every number after this, I would have all the files backed up? ie. no need to back up numbers prior to this again as I already have these. Also assuming this to be correct but want to make sure.

Not necessarily.
Avatars are related to the user ID, which is linked to the directory name, so any updated avatars can be changed in any directory. User ID 1 - 999 are in folder 0, 1,000 - 1,999 in folder 1 and so on.

Files can't be updated but they can be deleted.
So the only consequence will be having files in the directory which are no longer present on the forum.

 

[Marc]

excellent cheers Brogan. Avatars are least of my worries, can transfer nightly if need be. Just dont fancy transferring attachments each night as the folder is *huge* lol

 

[Mike]

If you're doing a transfer to another server, I'd look at setting up rsync to do it. It will only transfer changed files.

 

[Marc]

rsync .. never heard of that ... Google time .. Cheers Mike

 

[Marc]

Ooooo tis shiny

 

[digitalpoint]

You may want to check out csync2 as well, although maybe a little overkill for just a backup that is always from server A to server B. It *is* a little faster than rsync for the underlying transfer, but also has a ton of stuff you wouldn't need (it's primarily designed for keeping files on clusters in sync when files can originate on any of the servers).

Now if you want to get really fancy, and have "instant" backups... i.e. the instant the file shows up on server A, it's automatically copied to server B, you could use csync2 as the transfer mechanism along with lsyncd as the triggering mechanism (you can also use lsyncd with rsync as the transferring mechanism as well if you want).

Some good nerdy fun if you are bored.

http://code.google.com/p/lsyncd/
http://oss.linbit.com/csync2/

 

[Marc]

Some good nerdy fun if you are bored.

http://code.google.com/p/lsyncd/
http://oss.linbit.com/csync2/

May well have a look at that too .... Purely for the nerdy fun reasoning LOL