Backup of a live filesystem revisited

[Lee Casuto]

A few weeks ago I posted a request for information about a paper on
the backup of live filesystems. I also received lots of mail from
folks interested in this very topic. Rather than responding to each
person directly, I am going to post the definitive word on the
subject. Thanks to everyone for expressing an interest. Special
thanks to Kirk Mckusick for taking the time to respond personally.

Lee Casuto
Mail: ...ucbvax!hpda!lkc
Phone: 408-447-6686
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	From: blia!lkc at hpirs.hp.ucsf.edu (Lee Casuto)
	Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
	Subject: Backup of a live file system?
	Date: 25 Nov 86 17:44:46 GMT

	There is a rumor around here that Mr. M. K. McKusick has written a
	paper on the backup of a live file system. It would certainly be
	appreciated if anyone could respond to me with the title of this
	illusive article (if it *really* exists). Thanks in advance for any
	cooperation.

	Lee Casuto
	Mail: ...ucbvax!hpda!lkc

I hate to disappoint you, but no such paper exists. In fact I have gone
out of my way over the years to make it as clear as possible that `live'
dumps are NOT always going to work! The problem is that they usually do
work, particularly if they are being used to extract individual files.
But full incremental restores are likely to bomb out, and of course these
are the ones that are most critical.

	Kirk McKusick