[nflug] dump vs partimage

[Daniel V]

--- On Sun, 1/11/09, Joe <josephj at main.nc.us> wrote:
... > notebook ... HP Centrino Duo 1.6GHz w/ 100GB HD SATA (that I'm 
> trying to replace w/ a 320GB - see thread - "Help needed Initializing a > new notebook disk drive"). It also has a 250GB USB hdd that is attached > when I'm at home. It is running kubuntu hardy dual booted w/ Win XP.
> 
> The rest applies to the desktop system only.
> ...
> As far as the Linux partitions are concerned, what difference does it
> make whether I use dump or partimage *with respect to* verifying that
> the backups burned to CD's are good?

I usually watch partimage complete.

I don't know about dump, but check this out...
http://www.sysresccd.org/Sysresccd-manual-en_Burning_a_DVD_RW_from_SystemRescueCd_by_mounting_it

See http://www.partimage.org/Main_Page
You do have the ability to do a restore simulation, with nothing being written.

See http://linux.about.com/od/commands/l/blcmdl8_dump.htm


> In either case, I have a (set of) iso file on my secondary disk and the > image actually burned to a CDROM and I want my script to be able to give > me some confidence that that the CDROM is a valid copy and readable.
> 
> I can't just wipe the machine and try a restore because if it fails,
> I've got a dead machine that would take forever to rebuild - especially
> with trying to find all the software versions old enough to install
> correctly - to say nothing of all the configuration stuff that was done
> so long ago I'd probably never figure it all out again even if I could
> remember what I did.
> 
> The desktop is *very* old and does not get much in the way of software
> updates. Firefox 3.0 just failed to install and updates for that were
> always a no-brainer. So, for this system, full backups make a lot of
> sense to me.
> Joe

I suppose it depends on your needs. If you knew how much time you could save by just backing up your data, you might change your mind.


Daniel