talk-backup/source/talk.tex

\documentclass{beamer}
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%Information to be included in the title page:
\title{Backup and (possibly) Restore}
\author{Andrea Gussoni}
\institute{P.O.u.L.}
\date{23 Marzo 2017}
\titlegraphic{\includesvg[height=1.5cm]{logowhite}}


\begin{document}

\frame{\titlepage}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{Why do we need backups?}
  Bad things can happen and do happen:
  \begin{itemize}
    \item You may drop your computer accidentally.
    \item The disk may be damaged by vibrations during the daily train commute.
    \item The computer where you keep the unique copy of your thesis
    may be stolen.
    \item Or after some time it may simply age and stop operating.
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{What are backups?}
  \begin{block}{Definition}
    The copying and archiving of computer data so that it may be
    used to restore the original after a data loss event.
  \end{block}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{What to backup?}
  It is important to distinguish what it is necessary to backup from what
  it is not.\\
  Obviously this depends on the setup that you are using (native services, containers, VMs etc...)
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{A general guideline}
  Must:
  \begin{itemize}
    \item /home
  \end{itemize}
  \vfill
  At your discretion:
  \begin{itemize}
    \item /etc
    \item /var
  \end{itemize}
  \vfill
  Not necessary\footnote{if these folders contain something important probably you are doing something wrong in your setup}:
  \begin{itemize}
    \item /proc /sys /tmp
    \item /dev /mnt /media
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{Backup types}
  Backups can be:
  \begin{itemize}
    \item \textbf{full}: a complete backup of a all files and folder starting from a root node.
    \item \textbf{incremental}: contains all the differences since the last incremental backup.
    \item \textbf{differential} contains the changes since the last full backup.
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{Backup Support}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item Hard disks (HDD).
    \item Solid-State drives (SSD).
    \item Optical supports: DVDs, Blu-ray.
    \item Flash Drives.
    \item Cloud\footnote{Remember that there is no cloud, just other people's computers.}.
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{dd}
  \textbf{dd} is a powerful tool that basically can copy everything that is a file or a block device. It is common to use it for disk cloning.\\
  Usage example:
  \begin{itemize}
    \item \textit{dd if=/dev/sdX of=/dev/sdY \&\& sync\footnote{useful to actually wait the end of data transfer and avoid corrupted copies}}
    \begin{itemize}
      \item \textbf{if:} input file/device
      \item \textbf{out:} output file/device
    \end{itemize}
  \end{itemize}
  \vfill
  \begin{alertblock}{Caution}
    Since \textbf{dd} often requires \textit{sudo} privileges to run, if you mismatch the name of a device you can actually wipe the content of your primary hard disk, double check always the arguments before pressing enter.
  \end{alertblock}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{GNU ddrescue}
  gdrescue is an enhanced version of dd that tries to rescue good parts in case of read errors. It may be usefull to recover data from a drive with some damaged sector.\\
  Usage Example:
  \begin{itemize}
    \item \textit{ddrescue [options] /dev/sdX outfile mapfile}
    \begin{itemize}
      \item \textbf{mapfile:} a human readable text file ddrescue uses to manage the copy
    \end{itemize}
  \end{itemize}
  \begin{alertblock}{Caution}
    For the rescued data to be correct, both dd and gddrescue are best used on unmounted devices.
  \end{alertblock}
  \begin{block}{Tip}
    gddrescue can also be useful when trying to reallocate sectors on a drive with a few sector unreadable. Doing a wipe of the drive with gddrescue should reallocate bad sectors.
  \end{block}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{rsync}
  Also known as an advanced version of cp
  \begin{exampleblock}{Pros}
    \begin{itemize}
      \item (unlike cp) preserves hard and symbloic links, file permissions and ownerships, modification times, etc.
      \item designed to be network efficient because only transfers file changes.
      \item easy to use.
    \end{itemize}
  \end{exampleblock}
  \begin{alertblock}{Cons}
    \begin{itemize}
      \item no storage encryption.
    \end{itemize}
  \end{alertblock}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{rsync: usage}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item rsync -Pr source destination
    \begin{itemize}
      \item \textbf{P:} keep partially transferred files if the transfer is interrupted.
      \item \textbf{r:} recursive directory option
    \end{itemize}
    \vfill
    \item rsync source host:destination\footnote{But please don't do this \textit{rsync -av --delete source host:$\sim$/}}
    \begin{itemize}
      \item uses ssh by default, but can also be forced with the -e ssh option.
    \end{itemize}
    \vfill
    \item rsync -aAXv --exclude={...} /* /backup folder
    \begin{itemize}
      \item backup /* while following symlinks and preserving file properties.
    \end{itemize}
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{rsnapshot: rsync automated}
  rsnapshot produces automated, periodical system snapshots
  \vfill
  \begin{exampleblock}{Pros}
    \begin{itemize}
      \item preserves hard and symbolic links, file permissions and ownership, modification times, etc.
      \item network efficient.
      \item each snapshot contains a full system backup.
      \item easy to use.
    \end{itemize}
  \end{exampleblock}
  \vfill
  \begin{alertblock}{Cons}
    \begin{itemize}
      \item no storage encryption.
    \end{itemize}
  \end{alertblock}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{duplicity}
  duplicity produces encrypted, incremental backups in tar format.
  \begin{exampleblock}{Pros}
    \begin{itemize}
      \item preserves hard and symbolic links, file permissions and ownership, modification times, etc.
      \item network efficient.
      \item incremental backups.
      \item supports storage encryption with gpg.
      \item easy to use.
    \end{itemize}
  \end{exampleblock}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{duplicity: usage}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item duplicity /home/user scp::/user@host//backup/directory
    \vfill
    \item duplicity [restore] scp://user@host//backup/directory /home/user
    \vfill
    \item duplicity full /home/user scp::/user@host//backup/directory
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{duplicity: usage}
  \begin{itemize}
    \item duplicity list-current-files scp::/user@host//backup/directory
    \begin{itemize}
      \item list the files contained in the backup.
    \end{itemize}
    \vfill
    \item duplicity [restore] -t 3D scp://user@host//backup/directory /home/user
    \begin{itemize}
      \item specify the time from which to restore files.
    \end{itemize}
    \vfill
    \item duplicity remove-older-than 30D scp::/user@host//backup/directory
    \begin{itemize}
      \item remove from the backup full backups older than the specified period.
    \end{itemize}
  \end{itemize}
\end{frame}

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\end{frame}

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\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{License}
  \begin{center}
    {\large Thank you!}
    \vfill
    \includesvg[height=1.5cm]{by-sa}\\
    {\footnotesize These slides are published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license.}
  \end{center}
\end{frame}

\end{document}