Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Backup Questions

[thinksmart12]

Hello all,
I would like to start backing up my entire VPS, preferably with BQBackup (see lots of good things about them here). I have a few questions first though. I would like the entire system backed up (less than 10GB to start with) so that if an important file gets deleted, I can just restore the file from backup.

1) Is it possible to do this with BQBackup?
2) How would I set rsync to keep, say 3 backups at a time?
3) Would there be a better provider to do this with?

Also, do you think this is the best solution? I've read from other posts that incremental backup would delete a file from backup if you delete a file from the live server. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[bqinternet]

Originally Posted by thinksmart12

1) Is it possible to do this with BQBackup?

Yes. Most of our customers back up their servers daily using Rsync.

Originally Posted by thinksmart12

2) How would I set rsync to keep, say 3 backups at a time?

That is something that would be done outside of Rsync. Our newer servers support ZFS snapshots, which lets you go back in time to a previous backup. It is currently a beta feature, and can be enabled by request.

Originally Posted by thinksmart12

I've read from other posts that incremental backup would delete a file from backup if you delete a file from the live server.

Rsync only deletes files if you use the --delete option, otherwise it leaves them.

Originally Posted by thinksmart12

3) Would there be a better provider to do this with?

If there is, we wouldn't let them stay better for long

[hermetek]

Originally Posted by thinksmart12
2) How would I set rsync to keep, say 3 backups at a time?

You can script this... Look into rsync's hardlinking features and have it sort by date as many days back as you want.

[Henrik]

@bqinternet thanks for the "FAQ"

[jasonaward]

Originally Posted by thinksmart12

3) Would there be a better provider to do this with?

I've been using BQBackup for a couple months now and have been thoroughly impressed. I've tried a few different providers, and BQBackup is at the top of my list.

The only other provider I like is rsync.net ( http://www.rsync.net/ ). They have more options than BQBackup, such as Subversion support. But if you don't need those extra features, rsync.net becomes very expensive very quickly.

If you only need backup features, BQBackup is a great way to go.