User Data on VSC is only backed up for desaster recovery (such as a fire or complete hardware failure). Individual resores are not possible. Due to the size of our volumes, some data may not make it into the backup.

Backup is solely the responsibility of each user. Disk Pools are used on the storage servers to protect against single disk failure. Up to several disks failing concurrently can be sustained.

Other failure modes like disk controller failure or filesystem software faults are very seldom but might lead to loss of data.

To set up a continuous backup from VSC to your local machine, follow these steps:

Download and Configure the Backup Script

On your local machine, download the `backupvsc.sh` script:

[...]$ wget https://wiki.vsc.ac.at/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=doku:backupvsc.odt -O backupvsc.sh

Make the script executable:

[...]$ chmod +x backupvsc.sh

Run the script for the first time to configure it:

[...]$ ./backupvsc.sh

You will be prompted to enter:

• Remote username
• Remote host (e.g., `vsc5.vsc.ac.at`)
• Path to the remote directory to back up
• Path to the local backup directory

These details will be saved in a configuration file at `~/.backup_config`.

The script will also add useful aliases to your `.bashrc` file:

• `backupvsc`: Runs the backup process
• `addbackupfolder`: Adds an additional remote folder to the backup list
• `removebackupfolder`: Removes a remote folder from the backup list

To activate these aliases, run:

[...]$ source ~/.bashrc

Running the Backup

To run the backup process, use the alias:

[...]$ backupvsc

This will start the backup process, copying the specified remote directory and any additional folders to your local backup directory.

Adding a Folder to the Backup

To add an additional folder to the backup list, use the alias:

[...]$ addbackupfolder

You will be prompted to enter the path to the additional remote folder. This folder will be included in subsequent backups.

Removing a Folder from the Backup

To remove a folder from the backup list, use the alias:

[...]$ removebackupfolder

You will be prompted to enter the path to the remote folder you wish to remove from the backup list.