Linux incremental hardlink backup system
Introduction While reviewing my old college’s IT class backup system (due to running low on disk space), I discovered a major flaw: a weekly 1:1 backup of every user’s files—about 40 GB per week. Many of these files never change. Ever. Solution: Incremental backups. I challenged myself to code an incremental backup system using only Python and the Linux extfs filesystem. The Scenario At my former college, students ran the IT department. They set up a system with a 2 TB drive (two 1 TB disks) that made weekly full backups of every user, including alumni. ...