> rsync + cron = backup goodness.

Or robocopy + task scheduler if you're on windows. But both options 
assume your computer is on and the backup medium is connected...

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>  From what I've seen, several revision control systems *claim* to
> support large binary files, but barf if you actually try it...

I don't know how our IT department at work manage it, but on all our 
network drives you can right click and folder or file in Explorer and go 
Properties->"Previous versions" and help yourself to whatever previous 
version you want. I assume that all gets backed up somehow.

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On 28/01/2013 08:12 AM, scott wrote:
>> From what I've seen, several revision control systems *claim* to
>> support large binary files, but barf if you actually try it...
>
> I don't know how our IT department at work manage it, but on all our
> network drives you can right click and folder or file in Explorer and go
> Properties->"Previous versions" and help yourself to whatever previous
> version you want. I assume that all gets backed up somehow.

It's a new feature in Windows Server 2007 (?). AFAIK, it's only 
available for the server edition of the OS. But yes, basically it 
retains old versions of files for X days. The files are still on the 
same physical volume, however. This protects against logical failures 
(e.g., some doofus deleted the wrong file), but not against physical 
failures such as a head crash.

Of course, then you need to buy backup software expensive enough that it 
backs up the hidden previous versions as well as the visible files...

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On 28/01/2013 08:10 AM, scott wrote:
> Or robocopy + task scheduler if you're on windows.

Fun fact: I actually did this at my last employer. For real. They 
wouldn't cough up the money for a real backup solution...

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Le 2013-01-28 03:42, Orchid Win7 v1 a écrit :
> On 28/01/2013 08:12 AM, scott wrote:
>>> From what I've seen, several revision control systems *claim* to
>>> support large binary files, but barf if you actually try it...
>>
>> I don't know how our IT department at work manage it, but on all our
>> network drives you can right click and folder or file in Explorer and go
>> Properties->"Previous versions" and help yourself to whatever previous
>> version you want. I assume that all gets backed up somehow.
>
> It's a new feature in Windows Server 2007 (?).

A new feature that Novell had in Netware 3.10 back in 1990.

> Of course, then you need to buy backup software expensive enough that it
> backs up the hidden previous versions as well as the visible files...

No.  You just need to load $Day's tape (or DVD) with $day's version of 
the file.

Presumably, your backup software's DB will be able to provide you with $Day.

-- 
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/*   gmail.com     */}camera{orthographic location<6,1.25,-6>look_at a }

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On Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:16:16 -0500, Francois Labreque wrote:

>> It's a new feature in Windows Server 2007 (?).
> 
> A new feature that Novell had in Netware 3.10 back in 1990.

I was thinking the same thing.  That was the migration feature IIRC.  
Migrated data from fast disk storage to slower optical storage.

It's still supported in their current products, though I don't know any 
vendors who support it on Open Enterprise Server.

On Linux, btrfs has this kind of capability as well.

Jim

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On Mon, 28 Jan 2013 08:10:07 +0000, scott wrote:

>> rsync + cron = backup goodness.
> 
> Or robocopy + task scheduler if you're on windows. But both options
> assume your computer is on and the backup medium is connected...

Sure - and it's kinda hard to do operations with a machine that's turned 
off and without backup media in place.  Kinda like running a tape backup 
but not putting a tape in the drive every night.

I worked for a retail chain where store managers had to remember to do 
that - and often didn't.  So the server would "prompt" them by sounding a 
foghorn. :)

Jim

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>> It's a new feature in Windows Server 2007 (?).
>
> A new feature that Novell had in Netware 3.10 back in 1990.

And Amiga OS had premptive multitasking and a full GUI back when PC 
users were still playing with MS-DOS. Your point?

>> Of course, then you need to buy backup software expensive enough that it
>> backs up the hidden previous versions as well as the visible files...
>
> No. You just need to load $Day's tape (or DVD) with $day's version of
> the file.
>
> Presumably, your backup software's DB will be able to provide you with
> $Day.

The idea being that if you edit the file three times per hour, then 
three prior versions get stored. If your backup software is advanced 
enough, it can capture all of those prior versions. If it isn't, you 
only get the current version at the instant the backup happened. [Which 
is still far better than nothing, of course...]

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Le 2013-01-28 21:43, Jim Henderson a écrit :
> On Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:16:16 -0500, Francois Labreque wrote:
>
>>> It's a new feature in Windows Server 2007 (?).
>>
>> A new feature that Novell had in Netware 3.10 back in 1990.
>
> I was thinking the same thing.  That was the migration feature IIRC.
> Migrated data from fast disk storage to slower optical storage.

No, I was just thinking of the SALVAGE utility that allowed you to 
restore previous copies of files.  (a bit similar to Norton's UNERASE, 
but that would work on non-contiguous files)

-- 
/*Francois Labreque*/#local a=x+y;#local b=x+a;#local c=a+b;#macro P(F//
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/*   gmail.com     */}camera{orthographic location<6,1.25,-6>look_at a }

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Le 2013-01-29 03:55, Orchid Win7 v1 a écrit :
>>> It's a new feature in Windows Server 2007 (?).
>>
>> A new feature that Novell had in Netware 3.10 back in 1990.
>
> And Amiga OS had premptive multitasking and a full GUI back when PC
> users were still playing with MS-DOS. Your point?
>

That is is hardly a new feature.

>>> Of course, then you need to buy backup software expensive enough that it
>>> backs up the hidden previous versions as well as the visible files...
>>
>> No. You just need to load $Day's tape (or DVD) with $day's version of
>> the file.
>>
>> Presumably, your backup software's DB will be able to provide you with
>> $Day.
>
> The idea being that if you edit the file three times per hour, then
> three prior versions get stored. If your backup software is advanced
> enough, it can capture all of those prior versions. If it isn't, you
> only get the current version at the instant the backup happened. [Which
> is still far better than nothing, of course...]

Most software (Office is - or was - famous for that.) no longer rewrite 
the entire file when you do a "save".  It only appends a "changes" 
section at the end of the file, so unless you do a "save as..." and use 
the same file name, you  will not get multiple copies of the file on the 
OS file system.

This being said, I wonder how Windows Server 2008 would know that it 
should save multiple copies of a 5MB TPS Reports.ppt, but not multiple 
copies of a 64GB payroll.dbf.
-- 
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/*   gmail.com     */}camera{orthographic location<6,1.25,-6>look_at a }

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