FTP Help between 2 HP-UX servers

[AZceliGirl]

Hi everyone, I'm new here Could someone please guide me in the right direction to accomplish the following? I must not be putting the right words into search engines because I cannot find any information on how to do it:

The old server is still running OS 10.4, the new one is running 11.2.

I need to ftp an entire directory for backup purposes every 30 mins or so from the old server to the new server.


Thanks in advance for your help


Sincerely,

Kristin

 

[hoinz]

Hello Kristin,

welcome here!
Are there business needs for using ftp? Copying whole directories usually is done by rcp or scp. (The latter if security is an issue.) In your manual pages for these commands pay attention to -r option.

For doing it every 30 mins or so, look at the manual for cron and crontab.

Another point to consider: When doing a backup, are you willing to overwrite your previous backup? Or how to prevent this?

hope this helps

 

[AZceliGirl]

Hi hoinz, thanks SO much for your reply. Yes, the business need is to have an extra server with a backup in case I need to reboot the main server. There is one main directory with all the information we need that I have to ftp from the old server to the new server every 30 mins (I'm planning on doing this by kicking off a script from a cronjob). I've never used rcp or scp, I'll have to look into this. Would doing one of those be more beneficial as far as my needs for just having a backup go? Or should I stick with ftp?

As far as overwriting the directory - that is fine, no need to prevent it from doing so.

Thank you again, I really appreciate your input

Kristin

 

[KenCunningham]

As Hoinz says, rcp or scp might well suit your needs. Another alternative might be to tar up the directory on server A, ftp the tar file to server B and untar it when it's there. All of these steps can be achieved via cron.

 

[AZceliGirl]

Thanks for your replay KenCunningham I'll try out your suggestions and see how I do!

Kristin

 

[kozlow]

Why don't you just have the disk its on shared between the two servers? Look at Service Guard for information on failover. The product is used to automatically bring applications up on another server if the primary goes down.

Yes it is costly, but you are going to have a bear of a time figureing which files are still open for input when you rcp (remote copy) them over to the other server... You also will never know if 30 Minutes keeps them in sync. May be good today... But like life, it will change...

Also, what if the rcp runs longer then 30 Minutes? What if there is a network problem... Etc etc etc etc...

good luck...

Just some thoughts.....

 

[kozlow]

Not to push the issue...

If you decide to use FTP, remember that you will have problems with subdirectories, file ownership and permissions.

cd \DESIRED_DIR
rcp -pr * SERVERB:`pwd`

is much cleaner.....

Make sure your .rhost file on both sides is updated.....

Good luck.

 

[mrn]

You might also consider rsync

http://hpux.connect.org.uk/hppd/hpux/Networking/Admin/rsync-2.6.4/

Mike

"A foolproof method for sculpting an elephant: first, get a huge block of marble, then you chip away everything that doesn't look like an elephant."

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