Tools to make backups of your files are plentiful, and the Internet is full of tutorials explaining how to use them. Unfortunately, most entry-level blogs and articles assume the user just wants to back up a small set of data that remains static throughout the backup process.
Such an assumption is an acceptable approximation in most cases. After all, a user who is copying a folder full of horse pictures to backup storage is unlikely to open an image editor and start modifying the files at random while they are being transferred. On the other hand, real-life scenarios often require backups to occur while the data is being modified. For instance, consider the case of a web application that is under heavy load and must continue operating during the backup.
Pitfalls of Common Tools
Traditional Unix utilities such as dd, cpio, tar, or dump are poor candidates for taking snapshots from a folder full of living data. Among these, some are worse than the others.
If a program that operates at the filesystem level tries to copy a file that is being written to, for example, it could deposit a corrupt version of the file in the backup storage (Figure 1). If the corruption affects a file whose format follows a simple structure (such as a text file), this might not be a big problem, but files with complex formats might become unusable.
This story is from the #261/August 2022 edition of Linux Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the #261/August 2022 edition of Linux Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
URL filtering with Pi-hole Into the Funnel
Supporting browser plug-ins, network-based DNS blockers like Pi-hole help protect you against online tracking and unwanted content.
Artificial intelligence on the Raspberry Pi Learning Experience
You don't need a powerful computer system to use Al. We show what it takes to benefit from Al on the Raspberry Pi and what tasks the small computer can handle.
MakerSpace Manage your greenhouse with a Raspberry Pi Pico W Sheltered Growth
You can safely assign some greenhouse tasks to a Raspberry Pi Pico W, such as controlling ventilation, automating a heater, and opening and closing windows.
Control Center
Tipi gives you complete control of more than 100 applications and services. A mouse click is all it takes to install the apps.
In One Fell Swoop
Topgrade detects all the package managers installed on a system and executes them one by one at the command line.
Go Faster!
The fastest way through a curve on a racetrack is along the racing line. Instead of heading for Indianapolis, Mike Schilli trains his reflexes with a desktop application written in Go, just to be on the safe side.
Math Magic
MathLex lets you easily transform handwritten math formulas to digital format and use them on the web.
Custom Repair Toolkit
You can do more with System Rescue than just repair broken systems. By adding tools and scripts, you can create a custom rescue environment that meets your needs.
At Your Disposal
Debvm lets you quickly create a temporary virtual machine with a small memory footprint, ideal for testing scripts or mixing repositories
A Fresh Breeze
Vanilla OS, an immutable filesystem, seamlessly integrates applications from other distributions with an innovative container-based package manager.