Tar, rsync and other backup tools

Motivation

To keep a copy of your data in a different place you do not always need a complicated backup software. Often the small tools that come with any Linux distribution are easy and simple and do the job. Here you will see a few examples on how to use them.

The Problem of Backup

When you have not dealt with backup before then your fist thought will be: I need a copy of my data. But it is not that simple. Besides a copy of your data you will also want the metadata: When the file was created, some special files (like symbolic links) and you want the permissions. Who is allowed to access what. This is especially true if you want your backup of e.g. the file server of your company. Just imagine that you loos your data and need to restore from backup, only to find out that now all the 500 people in your company can access all files from everyone else. For sure some of them will not be happy about this.

Or, if you want a backup of your system and want to restore it, it will not work if all file permissions are wrong and all special files like device files and symbolic links are missing, etc..

Further more often want more then one version of your files. Anna from the Accounting department messed up her file and overwritten it with some garbage last month but only found out today. So it does not help here much if you have a backup of the files from only last week.

You also want your backup to be in a different place then your normal computer. E.g. if someone steals your computer then they will also steal the external drive that is next to it. The same with fire, etc..

tar

tar (short for Tape ARchive)