rsync backup Part 3… IT Works!
So today I fired up the backed up VM that I’ve been using rsync to sync to all week, with the script from my previous post, and it fired up and worked beautifully. The VM server in question is Ubuntu 7.10, with Samba+LDAP configured as a Windows NT-style Primary Domain Controller, and the main file server for our network. I took the VM and ran it in a different subnet so I wouldn’t interfere with our normal network, then I was able to authenticate to it, and access all files, including files I created yesterday. It appears the script works as it ought to, and I can recover from hardware failure rather quickly. And assuming there’s more a more catastrophic event that occurs, such as a tornado blowing away the server room, I’ve got a semi-recent copy of the VM off-site. No more than a week old anyway. Then all I need to do is find some computer somewhere, install VMWare, if not already installed, and fire up the VM. Of course we still have no means to archive data long term, but at the moment that’s not as important as getting us back up and running as quickly as possible in case of a disaster.
For the long-term, it looks like we will be getting some kind of tape backup this fall to handle data archiving. I’m still working on that plan. The final plan will largely depend on what all gets approved in this coming fiscal year’s budget. But I’m thinking I’ll continue to use something similar to what I’ve got here, but add the tape backup as well for archives.