[Discuss] Filesystem(s) for multi-OS, whole house backup?

[blu at nedharvey.com (Edward Ned Harvey (blu))]

> From: discuss-bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org [mailto:discuss-
> bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org] On Behalf Of Daniel Barrett
> 
> I'm seeking advice on disaster recovery for all the computers in my house
> together (Linux, Windows, Mac), about 3TB of data. 

If you just care about the files, this sounds like the use case specifically designed for crashplan.
Be aware, you can use it peer-to-peer for free, but last time I checked, they don't make it obvious.  You have to poke around and figure it out.

For me, simple file backup isn't enough.  I care about backing up the OS and applications, personal settings, etc.  I have an openindiana zfs server in the basement, with virtualbox running ubuntu server.  My mac backs up via time machine to the ubuntu server.  Restoring via time machine couldn't possibly be better - whole system or individual files, very user intuitive, granular to an hour.  For windows, the OI server serves samba, and I use Acronis TrueImage.  It's around $40 and gives timemachine-like functionality to windows.  For linux - whatever you like.  Rsync, etc.  No problem.  

zfs send to external storage couldn't possibly be better, either.  I periodically rotate disks offsite to the safe deposit box.  But if you had a friend or a business or somebody doing something similar, you could zfs send across the WAN to each other, and that would be ideal.