Build a Raspberry Pi-based backup device

Tiny Backup Box

Article from Issue 153/2013
Author(s):

With some creativity and a little scripting, you can easily turn your Raspberry Pi into an effective backup device.

Backup is crucial, especially when you are traveling. This is particularly true for photos: To keep your snaps safe, you ought to have at least one backup set of your precious photos. That's why a light, flexible, and inexpensive backup tool can be an indispensable tool in your travel bag. Several backup solutions are available on the market, but with a Raspberry Pi, you can build your own backup device and learn a few useful tricks and skills in the process.

Required Components

To begin, you will need a Raspberry Pi along with the Raspbian Linux distro installed on an SD card. Although you can use a standard micro-USB charger to power Raspberry Pi, you might want to invest in an external battery pack to make the solution more portable. Finally, you need a high-capacity USB key for storing backups. In theory, you could use a USB hard disk, but, because it must be connected to Raspberry Pi through a powered USB hub, this approach would make the setup unwieldy.

Going the Software Route

The easiest way to transform Raspberry Pi into a backup device is to use the excellent gPhoto2 [1] software available in the Raspbian software repository. To install it, you use the

[...]

Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News