[X-Newbies] Backing-up a Mac Mini

[Charles Howse]

> Gang,
> 
> I am using a Mac-Mini for day/day general email and web use.  Also have a
> 40G IDE HD with USB/Firewire capabilities.  Would like to  configure latter
> as backup for present and ongoing data.
> 
> Have read about SW products that would allow automatic backup of selected
> data.  Would appreciate any/all comments on this and be grateful for advice
> on the mechanics of setting up such a program.

Jack,
What about using rsync from the command line?  It's included in Darwin, not
at all difficult to learn/use, will let you backup selected data, or
synchronize folders.
It's what I use to backup my important stuff to a FreeBSD machine on my home
lan.  Works like a charm.

$ rsync -uvrtp --delete --exclude=/Library/Caches/ /Users/Charles/Library
/private/var/automount/Network/backup

This command backs up my Library folder, excludes the Caches sub-folder, and
deletes anything on the destination that isn't on the source, to the backup
folder on the FreeBSD machine.