Backup/Restore procedure

Current Strategy

Backup

Currently running a backup script at 06:00 UTC

The VMWare virtual machine is snapshotted and then its file system is rsync'd while the VM is running.

Restore to original host

Copy the rsync copy back to its original location

Restart the VM after removing the snapshot

Restore to another host

Similar to restoration to the original location plus:

Needs VMWare Server 2.0 installed

gpl.openqm.com DNS to point to new server.

Problems with current strategy

1. Only one physical backup copy overwritten daily so no possibility to go back more than one day if a corrupt system is backed up
2. No regular verification if the backup copy is usable so the procedure could fail silently eg if there is anything wrong in the scripts
3. Only SteveB has overview and responsible which is a single point of failure
4. VMSnapshot/Rsync is not totally proven method but results in minimal downtime whereas VMSuspend/Rsync will result in maybe 30 mins downtime