Keep it up? Backup?

[Rob Brandt]

>Rob,
>
>1.
>
>Regarding the first issue, if you're running a server you should have the
>machine on an uninterruptible power source anyway, which should obviate
>the need for auto-reboot, unless you live in a region prone to long
>blackouts.

California :')  Time will tell if the blackouts will be an issue this 
summer.  For all of the hype last summer, it only happened once.

>That said, I believe most of Apple's machines (regardless of type of power
>switch) have NVRAM options to auto-reboot (I know my G4 does). You should
>be able to set that up somehow -- my suggestion would be to boot into
>MacOS, use the appropriate control panel (Energy Saver? don't remember) to
>set auto-reboot, and then boot back into Linux. The NVRAM settings you
>change with MacOS should be persistent to the Linux environment.

Found it.  On OS9.1, it's in the Advanced section of the Energy Saver 
control panel.  Works great.

>2.
>
>Your best bet for backup may be to actually use tar for what it was made
>for, pick up a cheap 8mm tape drive off the Net and do nightly
>incrementals and weekly full backups to tape. If you're colocating at a
>respectable site, they'll be used to swapping tapes for clients, and will
>probably contract with a fireproof storage facility for storage of client
>backups. (You could of course do the same sort of backups to CD, but tape
>stores much, much more).

Its in the garage of a business associate.  But as hokey as that 
sounds, it's a pretty good setup.  He's got a big pipe going into it, 
and he's on the same grid as the main post office, so it's unlikely 
he'll ever be hit by a rotating power blackout (which is why he chose 
to install the big pipe there instead of his office).  But, he 
doesn't do hosting for living, just for his projects and an 
occasional associate like me.  What I particularly like about the 
deal is that it's both affordable and local to me, and I can get 
access to the hardware when required.  I don't live in a major metro 
area, so that's hard to find.

>Depending on your bandwidth and other issues, you could also set up cron
>to tar and gzip relevant files and send them to a remote system -- this,
>like CD, is good for small amounts of data over fast and unmetered pipes.
>You could likewise set up a mirror by telling cron on another machine to
>regularly download everything (or everything changed) in a particular set
>of server directories using wget, an ftp client with on-the-fly tar/gzip
>support, and appropriate permissions (see any of the mirroring howtos for
>more ideas here).
>
>There's a backup howto at
>http://www.biochemistry.unimelb.edu.au/pscotney/backup/Backup-HOWTO.html
>that focuses on backing up client machines to servers with tape drives;
>might give you some ideas.

I'll check this out.  Thanks.

Rob
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