Backup External HDD Dual Boot [SOLVED]

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djmintc
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Backup External HDD Dual Boot [SOLVED]

Post by djmintc »

I will be configuring my system to dual boot Windows 10 and LM21.1 Cinnamon. Following MN’s Tutorial, I will re-install my internal drives one-at-a-time and use them like this:

1. LM21.1 Cinnamon on a new NVMe 512 GB SSD; formatted ext4, mounted in the M.2 slot on the mobo. One user under /home. Initially, all Linux install and user activity will be done on this SSD. Not sure whether to dedicate /home at install, but will encrypt it then. Will establish /swap Partition at install, in addition to basic Partition.
2. Windows 10 is already on a NVMe 512 GB SSD mounted M.2 on mobo, formatted NTFS. No data is kept on this drive. As suggested in the Tutorial, I will remove this drive from the M.2 and set it aside until after the LM21.1 Cinnamon SSD mentioned in 1. above is installed, then I will install it with a riser on the PCIe slot. It presently has 3 Partitions: 100MB EFI / 476GB NTFS / 509MB Recovery
3. The existing 1TB internal HDD contains about 320GB of my data and media. It is NTFS with 2 Partitions: 16MB unallocated / 931.5GB NTFS Data. This HDD will continue to handle the bulk of my daily LibreOffice and media files.

Backup protection will come in three different forms.
1. Mirror / clone / recovery / Timeshift of the systems: Windows 10 from one of the SSDs and the Linux SSD.
2. Weekly / Daily backup of most of the internal HDD [the NTFS drive with my data and media that changes daily] to an external 2TB HDD [“old-style spinning disk” not SSD!]
3. Periodic copy / clone to another external 2TB HDD for off-site storage.

The step#1 mirrors/clones will go to one of the external HDDs. I already know the Windows recovery fits right in to the NTFS Partition as a separate folder, so it doesn’t need a special Partition. Not sure about Foxclone or Timeshift needing a special Partition?

During the initial stages of operating both W10 and LM21.1, I plan to do the #2 and #3 backups above in “parallel”, i.e. backing up the HDD both to NTFS under Windows and to ext4 under Linux. I realize this is redundant, but I want to get more familiar with handling Linux files. I already have the Profiles in place and working for Windows, using SyncBack software to control and run the Profiles. I want to be sure that I can get them also working in Linux, using Backintime.

So, I come to the question of how to configure the 2 external HDD to receive this kind of backup activity. I plan to format each of the 2 TB HDDs with two Partitions. A 931.5 GB Partition formatted NTFS and a 931.5GB Partition formatted ext4. Simply, from W10, SyncBack will back up to the step#2 NTFS and periodically to the Step#3 NTFS. Similarly, Backintime will backup to the step#2 ext4 Partition and periodically to the step#3 ext4. It is arbitrary about dividing the 2TB drive equally – either way it will hold about 320GB of data and media, so lots of room in either format.

I am sure that over time, as I become more familiar with LM, I will come to utilize that more, maybe even following the Tutorial advice to just run W10 in a virtual box under LM. Likely, I will utilize a few more Partitions and have to modify the backups. But, for my initial foray into LM, I think the two Partitions will suffice?
Last edited by LockBot on Tue Aug 01, 2023 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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