[Box Backup] Box backup and rotating media

[Stefan Norlin]

> how Box backup goes about handling those situations. If i can backup the
> entire filesystem it would be possible to recreate an entire client
> machine by just plugging a harddisk into another computer with Box backup
> installed and restoring to that disk, then plugging the harddisk in the
> machine and rebooting. This would be an ideal situation as it would
> enable me to restore an entire machine including its configuration in a
> matter of hours.

As ideal as this is it is seldom possible since most backup software do not
offer the type of "crash recovery" needed to be able to avoid OS re-install.
Since Box Backup backs up files in the filesystem it is not possible to
restore to an empty disc since MBR info, partitioning info etc is not part
of the backup.

My own opinion is that re-installing the operating system and then recover
user data and relevant system files is a fine, if not the best, way to do 
it.
Re-installing the OS can often be done quickly and it also gives you the
possibility to size file systems etc according to the geometry of the new
disk(s) you will be using unless it happens to be exactly the same size and
type.

Another thing is that if there is a live database (MySQL, Oracle or 
whatever)
it is very likely that the actual database files cannot be used after a 
crash
recovery. The database needs either be taken off-line or a snapshot of the
data dumped to file using special db tools or similar in order to guarantee 
a
consistent backup.

So... if you are sticking to Box Backup (which is a great choice from my
opinion) I would give up the "crash recovery" dream. :)

Regards,
Stefan