Backing up a living system
Serve It up Hot
© Photo by Aliona Gumeniuk on Unsplash
The tools and strategies you use to back up files that are not being accessed won't work when you copy data that is currently in use by a busy application. This article explains the danger of employing common Linux utilities to back up living data and examines some alternatives.
Tools to make backups of your files are plentiful, and the Internet is full of tutorials explaining how to use them. Unfortunately, most entry-level blogs and articles assume the user just wants to back up a small set of data that remains static throughout the backup process.
Such an assumption is an acceptable approximation in most cases. After all, a user who is copying a folder full of horse pictures to backup storage is unlikely to open an image editor and start modifying the files at random while they are being transferred. On the other hand, real-life scenarios often require backups to occur while the data is being modified. For instance, consider the case of a web application that is under heavy load and must continue operating during the backup.
Pitfalls of Common Tools
Traditional Unix utilities such as dd, cpio, tar, or dump are poor candidates for taking snapshots from a folder full of living data. Among these, some are worse than the others.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Direct Download
Read full article as PDF:
Price $2.95
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
Xfce 4.18 is Coming Soon and Offers Subtle Improvements
The Xfce team has announced the release date of the next iteration of the desktop, which includes a good number of features to polish the fan-favorite Linux UI.
-
Orange Pi Board Has Arch-Based Linux Distribution in the Works
The developers of the Orange Pi board are planning to release an Arch-based Linux distribution available for its hardware as an alternative to Orange Pi OS.
-
Alpine Linux 3.17 Now Available to the General Public
The developers of Alpine Linux have officially announced the release of the latest version of the security-focused Linux distribution.
-
The New StarFighter Linux Laptop Now Available for Preorder
A new, completely customizable Linux laptop is now available to preorder from Star Labs.
-
Critical Escalation Vulnerability Found in the Linux Kernel
A new local privilege escalation vulnerability has been discovered in the Linux kernel and users are encouraged to upgrade/patch immediately.
-
AlmaLinux 8.7 Now Available
The developers of AlmaLinux have released the latest version of the OS, named Stone Smilodon, to the general public.
-
New Arch-Based Linux Distribution Aims to be Beginner-Friendly
CachyOS has been created to serve as a Linux distribution for everyone, even while being based on the more complex Arch Linux.
-
elementary OS 7 Getting Closer to Release
The team behind elementary OS has announced they are now focused on putting the finishing touches on the next major release of the Linux distribution.
-
Nitrux 2.5 Released with Kernel 6.0 and KDE Plasma 5.26
Nitrux 2.5 has been officially released and is the first systemd-free distribution to include both kernel 6.0 and KDE Plasma 5.26.
-
Zorin OS 16.02 Now Available
Zorin OS 16.2 has been officially released just seven months after the first point release of the user-friendly Linux operating system.