Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 15:15:29 -0800 (PST)
From: Lisa Mann 
To: lwn@lwn.net
Subject: Unix Backup and Recovery released



Preparing for the Worst Averts Backup Disaster 
says author of "Unix Backup & Recovery"

Sebastopol, CA--The newest release from O'Reilly & Associates, "Unix Backup
& Recovery", provides a complete overview of all facets of Unix backup
and recovery, and offers practical, affordable backup and recovery
solutions for environments of all sizes and budgets. 

"One of the simplest rules of systems administration is that disks and
systems fail" says author W. Curtis Preston, "I lost four laptop disk
drives while trying to write this book! (Yes, I had them backed up.) If
you haven't already lost a system, or at least a disk drive, you might
consider the statistical possibility that your time is coming really
soon.  It's a fact of life."

"Unix Backup & Recovery" (O'Reilly $36.95) is an invaluable book for
administrators that begins with detailed explanations of the native
backup utilities available to the Unix administrator, and ends with
practical advice on choosing a commercial backup utility.

"Companies used to think they could create backup and recovery plans
themselves with a couple of shell scripts. Now it's clear to most
everyone that they can't do it without professional software and a
professional implementation," says Preston. "That's where "Unix Backup &
Recovery" comes in.

For small shops on tight budgets, it explains:
1. How to use the basic backup and recovery commands 
2. How to obtain and install free backup software that will help
automate your backups (including database backups)

Large shops will benefit from these explanations:
1. How to find and evaluate a commercial backup product once the free
software is not enough 
2. How to backup clearcase 
3. How to find and evaluate backup hardware


"Unix Backup & Recovery" also: 
Describes the features, limitations, and syntax of Unix backup and
restore utilities,(including dump, tar, cpio, dd, GNUtar, and GNUcpio)
for many popular versions of Unix, including AIX, Compaq Unix, HP-UX,
IRIX, SCO, Solaris, and Linux 

Provides instructions for installing and configuring freely available
backup systems such as AMANDA

Includes ready-to-run shell scripts that automate live backups of
Informix, Oracle, and Sybase databases

Presents step-by-step recovery procedures for Oracle, Informix, and
Sybase

Presents step-by-step "bare-metal" disaster recovery procedures for
AIX, Compaq Unix, HP-UX, IRIX, Solaris, and Linux

Describes the design of "disaster recovery" and "highly available" systems

Provides guidance on choosing a commercial backup and recovery system

Describes the features and limitations of backup hardware

About the book:

"Curtis Preston is a System Administrator with a breadth and depth of
knowledge that is rare and all of that knowledge is employed in this
volume. He has taken an immense subject and attacked it with the
passion that can only come from having been bitten too often by the
improbable. He teaches us here how to avoid getting similarly nipped.
The coverage is thorough--SysAdmins would do well to be sure that their
newly hired team members find a copy on their desk on day one."--Art S.
Kagel, Informix/Oracle DBA

"To avoid losing valuable data, SysAdmins need reliable, easily
accessible backups.  Unix Backup & Recovery provides a comprehensive
guide to performing backups for crucial systems and includes detailed
information on topics such as hot an cold backups, database backup and
recovery,. And commercial options. Curtis informed approach to
developing effective backup procedures is refreshingly clear and
practical. The expertise offered in this book can help SysAdmins
prevent backup crises, which is valuable information indeed."--Amber
Ankerholz, Editor-In-Chief, SysAdmin magazine

For more information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, 
author bio, and samples, see:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/unixbr/

For a cover graphic in jpeg format, go to:
ftp://ftp.ora.com/pub/graphics/book_covers/hi-res/1565926420.jpg


Unix Backup & Recovery
by W. Curtis Preston
1st Edition November 1999 (US)
1-56592-642-0, 734 pages, $36.95 (US$), Includes CD-ROM
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
http://www.oreilly.com