Backups with Linux and Rsync

Easy Automated Snapshot-Style Backups with Rsync
Interesting. I think that something like this and a terabyte raid array would cover all the needs of a medium to small company. Incremental backups to the RAID array and user servicable restores would remove both TCO and the outlay for the tape drive. I haven't priced a terabyte server lately but I'm guessing the initial costs would equal setup and one years worth of tapes. I'll have to look into this further. I'm assuming a minimum of 12 tapes have to be purchased the first year.

This document describes a method for generating automatic rotating "snapshot"-style backups on a Unix-based system, with specific examples drawn from the author's GNU/Linux experience. Snapshot backups are a feature of some high-end industrial file servers; they create the illusion of multiple, full backups per day without the space or processing overhead. All of the snapshots are read-only, and are accessible directly by users as special system directories. It is often possible to store several hours, days, and even weeks' worth of snapshots with slightly more than 2x storage. This method, while not as space-efficient as some of the proprietary technologies (which, using special copy-on-write filesystems, can operate on slightly more than 1x storage), makes use of only standard file utilities and the common rsync program, which is installed by default on most GNU/Linux distributions. Properly configured, the method can also protect against hard disk failure, root compromises, or even back up a network of heterogeneous desktops automatically.

via coolest backup scheme on macslash