Computers crash, disks become corrupt, data is lost, security is compromised. Today, computers are pretty reliable and it is rare to lose data but it can happen and usually when it is most inconvenient! Important work should always be backed up.
In this chapter we review approaches to backup. We begin with simple approaches, including backing up to another backed up host on a network that you can access. In this approach you simply copy files across to that other host. This is useful in an environment where you often work from home and have a good backup system in the office. Another approach uses the commercial backup system called Legato NetWorker (also known as the Solstice NetWorker).
Alternatives include cdbackup and mondo.