Linux backup solution. Which one is better?
Linux backup solution. Which one is better?
What backup methods do you typically use? Timeshift or Clonzilla? Which one do you favor? Also, which option can create a physical copy of your Linux drive while keeping GRUB functional? I want to back up my Linux partition on my laptop along with the Windows partition. Right now I’m dual-booting Ubuntu and Windows.
dd offers two valuable purposes for these backups. When you plan to compress the raw file afterward, you likely don’t want unused space to expand it. Before unmounting or remounting with the -o ro option, fill empty areas with zeros. # dd if=/dev/zero of=./filler bs=4M status=progress # rm -f filler This step is helpful, as it reduces the need for heavy compression tools like xz -v9T0 sdX.img and saves space afterward. Afterward, you can create a raw copy. Option a) keeps the partition table included # dd if/dev/sdX of=/really/not/on/sdX.img bs=4K status=progress You can later view the partitions inside the image using # losetup -fP sdX.img # Option b) omits the partition table # dd if/dev/sdX0 of=/really/not/on/sdX0.img bs=4K status=progress and remount it with # mount -o loop sdX0.img /somewhere
dd means disk destroyer. From the name, it’s clear it’s an entertaining tool for experimenting...
I also prefer using rsnapshot for creating delta backups of my devices.
I'm working with rsync on both a desktop and a file server running Linux. This lets me copy files effortlessly using SSH keys. Since the file server also supports NFS, accessing backups from my desktop works just as smoothly. The file server uses RAID6 with a total capacity of 8TB, allowing me to back up a large video drive (over 4TB) with dual disk redundancy. HTH!