Hi guys,

What software do you use to mirror an entire server setup on another server, at another host?

I want to mirror accounts, files, email accounts, crons, permissions, everything. I want to create an exact fully operational mirror. If I changed the DNS to point to this 2nd server at a 2nd host, all services should continue as normal.

I've heard of Rsync http://samba.org/rsync, but know nothing about it's operation. It appears to just backup files, not the entire server setup, but I'm not sure.

I'm interested in using this service:
http://www.dnsmadeeasy.com/

As I understand it, they monitor your sites, and if your sites become inaccessible, they automatically route your traffic to your mirror.

My goal is to fully mirror a small hosting business on a 2nd server that is ready to take over at a moments notice.

Many thanks for your advice.

Depending on the OS, check out 'imaging' solutions if you'd like multiple quick restore backups. rsync is very useful depending on how often you plan to backup and how fast you'd like to be able to restore. A bit of thought and research should set you off in the right direction.

Hello, using Rsync you may mirror root or any particular directory, Rsync will work as a cron and will copy updated data in a timely manner, as set by you.

For redundancy of ontime, You need to use round robin in BIND, Windows servers do have this facility preinstalled, its very easy to load balance 2 windows servers for high availability.

We use rsync and mysqls inbuilt replication if this helps.