ECE Sysadmin Wiki

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====== Data Backups ======

The ECE research computing service provides central servers using Solaris and Debian linux, providing account holders with shared services including email, webmail, group websites, compute servers, and data storage. Accounts are chargeable to the sponsoring professor monthly The account fees cover a range of expenses including backup tapes, printer paper and toner, etc. (Not all professors elect to pay for accounts for their students and researchers.)

If you have a login account on a server managed by ECE, the data you store on your server home directory is included in our central ECE data backups. Most directories are backed up to tape at least a few times per week, depending on constraints of both total size and write speed of our tape drives. Tape backups are retained for a maximum of one year. We also use disk-to-disk backups to provide more complete daily backups, but without long-term retention. 


===== What is NOT backed up =====

Some unix/linux workstations have been configured with quite large additional local disk for intermediate results. Any filesystem with a name such as ''/nobackup'', ''/localdisk'', ''/scratch'', or ''/temp''//NN// is typically of this type, and users should understand these filesystems are NOT included in our backup service. If in doubt, ask.

Tier_1 Windows PCs are not covered by any automatic backup process. 

Computers on Tier_2 (IP addresses 128.100.23.nnn or 128.100.241.nnn) or Tier_3 (IP starting with 142.) are not included in any central ECE backups. Laptops are never backed up by ECE. Currently all MacOS systems are on Tier_2 and thus are not included in central backups of their local disk storage.

===== User backups =====

It is the responsibility of the user to make backups of their own data by any means available: 

 * account holders can save and/or copy data to their unix/linux server home directory, where it will then be covered by our tape backups
 * users can also make backups to CD-R, DVD-R, memory stick, or online storage provided by an ISP, webmail provider, etc.

Please remember to back up your work regularly - at least weekly if not daily. Two copies on the same hard drive do not provide protection against failure of the hard disk or its circuit board. Consider using a calendar reminder function or a backup program that starts up automatically as a scheduled task, to ensure that you remember consistently.

If you administer a computer on Tier_2 or Tier_3 and provide shared access to other users, you and your supervisor should come to an agreement on whether and how to back up the data and how to pay for that. Please also make clear to the other users sharing the system whether or not you are backing up the shared storage. 

We recommend that users keep some backups in a physically separate location from their computer. This mitigates risks such as damage or theft of both the computer and the backups if they are in the same location. Don't keep your only backup of your laptop data in a USB key in the laptop bag - store archival backups at home, in a desk drawer, or even with a friend or relative for extra security (consider the terms of any non-disclosure agreement before doing the latter)