Lunch with the guys

Just a quick note or two and this is odd… I don’t remember the last blogpost I wrote on a weekday morning; but I found myself waiting for a backup to finish with a new program I’m trying out.  Backing up date is very important everyone.  But most of all knowing what to back up and what is chaff is the most.  Why build a fully bootable backup if you don’t need a fully bootable backup?  I read Dave’s recent post about backing up with some interest.  Let us just be sure we get “it” though.  List the important files to you.  If you are on a delicate operating system (Vista, XP, perhaps others), you need to worry about the entire state of the system and perhaps therein lies the need for a bootable backup.  If you treat the systems are expendable but the data as significant; you arrive at a point where you can replace it all easily.  What’s significant on a linux system?  I can rebuild a debian or Ubuntu system in hours and I can build one with no big Gnome or KDE sooner by simply placing a few files in the backup that live in /etc and perhaps in /home.  But most of all, these things are all disposable.  Its the data doods and doodettes.  Unless you have a registry and hives and hidden nooks and crannies.  So be intelligent and articulate and don’t do a fully bootable backup unless you run a legacy OS or one that you are concerned with not working.  Instead analyze how and where you place data files.  My most important ones are:

• mp3s - oh yeah.  I have to have these and I have a growing repository.  These require delicate handling.  The default Ipod does not possess enough intelligence to be a backup media I can carry.  Enter Rockbox.  It does.  I can use my Iaudio and Ipod Video as portable mp3 backups since they are just USB storage drives.
• documents - need ‘em.  These are not work documents however.  These are created at home by kids that backup using Windows backup software to my linux box, wife created journal files, recipes, photos.  I subsume all those things as documents.
• web and mysql - what to do with these?  well, you need the setups and DBs.

So the challenge is to find the solution that fits the need.  An all in one solution that runs on Linux as a cron job is the best.  You don’t need some fancy interface.  Enter backup-manager which is a debian package and which does mySQL and other stuff and it does it intelligently by creating master and incremental backups where I want.

Lunch Plans and Places

Finally, after my twisting and turning I reach the point.  I’m having lunch today with some old friends from the Linuxcare and other days.  We’ll discuss the foibles and fun and frolic of open source startups I’m sure.  And we will discuss the shortfalls and debatable natures of a few spindowns I’m just as sure.  All in all, I like talking with people about Linux and startups and VC money and the entre-pan-uers.  I’m just as glad to NOT BE associated with them for awhile though. 

Heed the words on backups and remember to analyze carefully your needs.  If you don’t need exquisitely complex multi gaggle byte bootable backups why da hell do it?  Do what works.  Work smart.  You can get by with a few hundred gigabyte USB or e-SATA enclosure if you do it right.  Massive collections of things may require massive storage though.  I don’t do photo’s so look at what you have.  There is data and there is effort.  One should not overcome the other.

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