Buddy Hyphen Baker Dot US regularly does scheduled backups to maintain files and systems on its network to the best of our ability. On several occasions, it has become evident to me that my users may not know what I mean when I say “Partial (System) Backup” or “Full (System) Backup,” or “Maintenance Window” I explain these below:
a Partial System Backup is a backup where Buddy takes specific directories of the file systems, and backs them up for later Archival Storage. These directories are usually ones such as: /home, /home2, /var/, /etc/, /var/www/, /var/www/html/, /var/www/html/blog/, and /var/www/html/blogold/. These directories are ones where the information changes quite frequently, so they must be maintained on a regular basis to ensure that important files are not missed. In addition, we may backup Databases, or any directory where files are updated or changed, so that we can restore them when necessary. It should be noted that a Partial System Backup can include any directory on our file systems, but some of them may be omitted because they would not be needed (such as /proc or /backups) The idea is that we do not need to backup the same files twice during a backup cycle, so we have to be careful when writing and editing the scripts we use. Partial System Backups happen on an as needed basis, but usually happen every 2 weeks.
a Full System Backup is a backup where Buddy decides to backup the ENTIRE File System. This means that Buddy would start on the root filesystem (designated ‘/’ ) and backup EVERY file on the system, in EACH directory. This ensures that we have a full backup of everything, in case of unforeseen circumstances. (Power Failure, System Crash, etc) Once this backup is completed, Buddy will archive the files so that we can restore what we need (either a Partial or Full System Backup) as needed. We also take backups of Databases or Blogs as well during this type of Backup. Full System Backups can be on an as needed basis, but usually happen twice a month, with archives moved off the system as necessary.
Schedule: In the best of circumstances, Buddy would LIKE to backup his systems automatically, so that there is little chance for an error, and make sure that at any one point in time, we have a working, usable backup, so that we could restore on the fly. However, because backups are specific, and needed, it is important to take an active role in this process. To that end, Buddy will try to adhere to a schedule of a twice a month backup routine. Partial Backups would be taken at one point in the given month, and the Full Backup would be taken at another point in the month. Common practice used to be that backups would be taken, or maintenance performed on Saturdays between 9 and noon. However, this will change now: Backups will be taken mid-week, (Wednesdays) or end of the week (Sundays). Maintenance Windows will be determined based on what needs to be completed. Postings will appear on the BBUS Facebook Page, and on the BBUS Blog Under Notes and System Status Information.
Maintenance Window: This is defined as a defined time period within which maintenance will be performed. A Maintenance Window may be used to deal with situations in which we may have to perform upgrades or changes. This may include possible system or service stops, starts, or reloads. Maintenance Windows can happen regularly, and sometimes, Buddy will wait to fix several things at once, or may declare a Maintenance Window to deal with specific sporadic problems or “hiccups.”
Thank You for your Interest 🙂
Sincerely,
Buddy
System Admin
BBUS