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Once a month, I use either SuperDuper or ChronoSync to make another complete backup to another separate HD that is stored in a fireproof safe.
On our Macs, I would occasionally do a full SuperDuper! clone of the systems. The fantastic thing about SuperDuper! and the Macs, is that after you make a full clone like this, you can just re-boot the machine, hold the option key, and select the new image to boot from.
I would always boot from the freshly made clone, to verify that it was actually a usable system. I'd open a few apps, etc as well.
For those who use other systems to make images, do you boot from them to validate them? I always tell people -
if you didn't test your back up, assume you do not have a back up! And if you you have to reinstall from the backup (wiping out the original) to test it, that sort of defeats the purpose!
Unfortunately, I have not found anything quite so elegant for Linux. Yes, you can clone the system, but I know of no way to boot from that clone directly, as it contains the same UUIDs as the main installed system. I'd have to remove the drive of the main system, or try to futz with re-assigning UUIDs on the clone, but that get complicated (at least for me). So I've just been backing up my data. I use rsync, using grsync as a guide to the settings - I find it actually easier to copy/paste the commands to a terminal from a text file that I've saved them to. It really doesn't take too long to re-install a system, and I recorded my mods/additions, and I have a second running system to use in the meantime. The actual effort of a reinstall, and the slim chance I would actually need to do it (never so far) is making me lazy about doing the cloneing. The system can be replaced with some effort, my data can't.
-ERD50