[Dovecot] backup strategy

[Sean Kamath]

On Feb 6, 2008, at 5:40 AM, Rick Romero wrote:
> IMHO, if you're going to use tapes, just buy ArcServe.   I've used it
> for years on Netware, and was unable to get it to work with Debian (so
> I'd suggest rsync/mysqldump to a supported box).
> ...
> Backup just isn't something I feel I should ever have to really think
> about.
>
> ArcServe and Netware are probably the only two pieces of software I  
> can
> easily justify purchasing.

So. . . If you want tape backups, buy ArcServer and Netware because it  
doesn't work on Linux?

Forgive me if I disagree.

Whilst the whole rsync or other on-line solution is fine for those who  
want that, my solution was a little more direct: use dump (ufsdump on  
Solaris).  Don't use dump on Linux, it won't work (so says Linus: http://dump.sourceforge.net/isdumpdeprecated.html 
, except the links don't work.  Sigh.  I can't find the direct  
link.).  At least not on live filesystems.

However, if you OS supports it, using snapshots will work, and get you  
what you want.  Even if you dump to a file instead of tape, it works  
quite well.  And you can have nice rotations and everything.  I use an  
SSH key to run a dump command on my selected filesystem (using  
snapshots is trivial in Solaris now, on UFS filesystems).

Of course, you have to think about your backups.  But I think it's a  
worthwhile investment to actually think about your backups, your  
rotation and retention schedule, and not just trust the vendor.

Sean