UNIX Backup and Recovery

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 736 pages
• Published by: O'Reilly Media, Inc.; Pap/Cdr edition December 15, 1999
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1565926420
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1565926424
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.3 inches
• Weighs: 2.4 pounds

Product Review
The Unix file system is reliable and very well-suited to mission-critical applications in which maximum uptime is key. But it's not flawless, and that's where Unix Backup & Recovery comes in. This book details dozens of strategies for keeping Unix systems online. The strategies range from good administration practices that minimize problems to hot-restore techniques that allow you to recover from breaks as seamlessly as possible. The book also contains absolutely inclusive archive techniques that allow you to restore huge databases and file systems from backup media.

Unix Backup & Recovery includes a lot of general "recommended practices" advice and lots of scary stories about lost files (and more than a few about heroic system administrators who saved the day, or at least the data). But it gets down to brass tacks too, documenting lots of backup and recovery tools that can make the administrator's job much easier when they're used properly (including cpio, tar, and AMANDA). Coverage of specific systems' backup and recovery issues (including those of Solaris, HP-UX, Oracle, Sybase, and Informix) are invaluable, as is the coverage of techniques for extracting information from ancient, obsolete backup media. The point: read this book before you have a disaster, so you can do everything required to head one off and be ready to deal with problems when they happen. --David Wall

Topics covered: Strategies for protecting the contents and availability of Unix systems, particularly those running Solaris, Linux, Compaq True-64 Unix, HP-UX, IRIX, and AIX. Coverage also includes backup and recovery software (free and commercial), and the mechanics of protecting and fixing large database management systems. There's also a lot of advice on defensive administration, backup hardware, and obsolete media.

Book Description
Unix Backup & Recovery provides a complete overview of all facets of Unix backup and recovery, and offers practical, affordable backup and recovery solutions for environments of all sizes and budgets. The book begins with detailed explanations of the native backup utilities available to the Unix administrator, and ends with practical advice on choosing a commercial backup utility. This book:

• Describes the features, limitations, and syntax of Unix backup and restore utilities,(including dump, tar, cpio, dd, GNUtar, and GNUcpio) for many popular versions of Unix, including AIX, Compaq Unix, HP-UX, IRIX, SCO, Solaris, and Linux
• Provides instructions for installing and configuring freely available backup systems such as AMANDA
• Includes ready-to-run shell scripts that automate live backups of Informix, Oracle, and Sybase databases
• Presents step-by-step recovery procedures for Oracle, Informix, and Sybase
• Presents step-by-step "bare-metal" disaster recovery procedures for AIX, Compaq Unix, HP-UX, IRIX, Solaris, and Linux
• Describes the design of "disaster recovery" and "highly available" systems
• Provides guidance on choosing a commercial backup and recovery system
• Describes the features and limitations of backup hardware

Reader Reviews
Backup and recovery can be -- let's face it, IS -- a miserable responsibility, and there's never been a way to learn how it's done in the real world, let alone multi-terabyte enterprise environments. This book provides several critical features for anyone whose responsibilities include data storage management: 1. It's huge. A vast range of backup and recovery topics are covered. 2. It covers the theory and practice of network-based backup in large environments, whereas most technical guides assume you're dumping a few gigs to an 8mm. Even if that's the case, this book will help you do it right and show you how to plan for the future. 3. It's full of anecdotes and personal experiences, and it's written in a friendly style. Backup and recovery is not exactly the most engaging topic, but the conversational tone and the real-life horror stories in sidebars make it far easier to absorb than your average vendor manual. 4. It covers hot database backups without assuming you're a DBA. 5. It's an O'Reilly. If you're a sysadmin, buy it. It'll serve you well for the rest of your career. Comment | | (Report this)