Back up server / Mirroring recommendations please

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Forum is on sys admins private racks at a server co.

I want a copy on a machine I own.

Here is the size of the forum:

Server Type Linux Data
Usage 824.11 MB
Web Server Apache v2.0.52
Index Usage 471.41 MB
PHP 4.3.9
Attachment Usage 15.25 GB
PHP Max Post Size 8.00 MB
Avatar Usage 19.01 MB
PHP Maximum Upload Size 20.00 MB
Profile Picture Usage 2.53 MB
PHP Memory Limit 64.00 MB
Unique Members Today 1,202
MySQL Version 5.0.27-standard
MySQL Packet Size 64.00 MB

Average online at once 400 - 600
Maximum ever on line = 1,000
30,000 members
8,000 active
6 Million page views per month

Whats the best way to keep a constantly updated copy in case the sys admins private racks go down?

I want it all, attachments etc..

I don't mind a little slowness at off peak times or even a total switch off for 5 mins per night to get it done if thats what it takes..

Thanks in advance,

[Lynne]

I run a mysql backup script that I got from here every night during the off-peak times to backup my database (a bit less than 550 MB). Then, I also wrote a script to backup my avatars and torrents (26 MB and 100 MB) that I run every night (about 30 minutes after the mysql backup) and then I run a similar script to back up my attachments (only 3.5 GB) once a week (about a hour after the mysql backup).

[Make Money?]

hmm thanks

I have 15 gig of attachements..

Can these be backed up incrementally?

Is there a link to the scripts you use please?

Many thanks

[Lynne]

I've never looked into backing them up incrementally. As I mentioned, ours is just 3.5 GB right now and so I haven't looked into it yet. The script I use is a modification of something I found online somewhere. I would love to find some way to do it better than how I do it. But, here's my basic script:

PHP Code:

<?php

/*======================================================================*\
|| #################################################################### ||
|| # Cron Job to backup all avatars, attachments, and torrents            ||
|| # Last Modified: February 26, 2006                                   ||
|| #################################################################### ||
\*======================================================================*/ 

        $backupdate = date("Y-m-d");

        $backupdir1 = "/my/path/to/torrents/";
        //Where are the files located?
        //ie.  "/home/sitename/public_html/tracker/torrents/";

        $files = "*";
        //What file to backup? Use a * to backup all the files
        //inside the folder entered above.

        $backupto = "/my/path/to/backups/";
        //Where to store the tarball?
        //Make sure to put this outside your main folder
        //ie. "/home/sitename/backups/

        $fileprefix1 = "torrents";
        //This is the prefix that will be added before the date:
        //bak20060225.tgz

        $tararg = "-cf";
        //Here goes the tar arguments.
        // -cf to archive
        // -cjf to archive and bzip2
        // -tf to list the contents later on
        // -xf to extract them all later on

//Call the function
backupsus();

function backupsus() {
global $backupdate,$backupdir1,$backupto,
$fileprefix1,$tararg,$files;
$backupattach = "cd $backupdir1;
    tar $tararg {$fileprefix1}{$backupdate}.tar $files;
    mv {$fileprefix1}{$backupdate}.tar $backupto";
    passthru ("$backupattach");
}

?>

[Make Money?]

Thanks for the help!

Anyone else got any ideas for daily incremental back ups of attachements?

Thanks