“When a person says “backup” most computer users automatically
think “tape!” without a moment’s hesitation. Unfortunately, tape
backups are slow, inconvenient and basically clumsy to work with.
They invariably seem like overkill when you only need to restore
that one tiny WordPerfect file that you accidentally rm-ed.”
“Realistically, backup tapes are rarely used to their fullest.
Most data loss doesn’t occur as the result of a single,
catastrophic event that wipes everything out. Most data loss can
actually be counted in small files lost to accidental deletion,
unwanted revision, or sporadic filesystem corruption due to power
loss or un-fscked filesystems.”
“Luckily, Linux makes it easy for you to maintain periodic
backups of your important files without needing to run a tape every
single night. Non-tape backups are also often easier to restore
files from when only one or two files are needed. And with hard
drive sizes now routinely exceeding 20 gigabytes, many users find
themselves with lots of unused free space, some of which can be put
to good use as backup storage.”