HEP Data Backup and Retrieval

User Filestores that are backed up

The only user areas that are regularly backed up are the NFS mounted home directories located under /user. These areas contain the default home directories for all HEP users and are available on all user accessible systems (servers and desktops).

Retrieving files from the daily backups

Users can retrieve the files from the previous day's backup by logging in to gateway.ph.liv.ac.uk via SSH. From here they can access the /backups/$HOME directory which is a snapshot of their home directory as of approximately midnight the previous day. The backups are read only so there is no risk of corrupting any backup files.

Incremental backups are kept for 3 months. If you need to retrieve files or directories older than one day ask the system administrators for assistance.

User Filestores that are not backed up

All other filestores into which users can save data are not backed up systematically. Users and groups may take their own steps to ensure some or all of their own data is backed up but there are no automatic backup systems in place.

All file stores are located on high capacity, high availability and redundant storage systems such that data is reasonably secure against data loss but this is not a substitute for separate backups of important data. As the amount of user or group data is so large there are no plans at present to provide backup solutions for the bulk storage areas (eg /hepstore).