[NBLUG/talk] Duplicating a server

[Dave Sisley]

Todd Cary wrote:

> I know that I have asked this before and I received some answers, but 
> I have not found a simple solution yet...maybe there isn't one.
>
> Task: keep a backup server ready in case the main one dies.
>
> Though my server is not running critcal tasks, I along with my clients 
> have become dependent on it for FTP and testing of PHP apps.  
> Currently it is running Centos 4.1.  My backup server which is offline 
> is running RH 8 (will not accept Centos) is in standby mode.  From 
> time to time I tar the "/home" directory and untar it on the standby 
> server, but then I have to reset the owners and groups on the files.  
> Also, the dot files for the users may not be compatible (have not had 
> that problem so far).
>
> Is there some automated way to get this task done?
>
> Todd
>
Todd:

I second the votes you've already recieved for rsync.  It seems a little 
confusing at first, but it's very easy to incorporate into a script.  I 
don't think you want to 'duplicate' the server, just copy the 
directories you'll need to recreate if the original server goes down. 

What's cool is that rsync will only copy the files that have changed 
since the last backup.  For instance, it took me over 24 hours to copy 
everything off of the main server at work to a remote, offsite drive, 
but most of those files never change.  The subsequent nightly rsync 
backups now take less than 5 minutes.  Obviously, yours may take longer 
than that if there's a lot of fresh data on your server.

-dave.

-- 
Dave Sisley
dsisley at sonic.net
roth-sisley.net