Move and upgrade to a new server, continue with existing backups?

Server
1

I’m looking to upgrade my UrBackup setup significantly (moving it to a different computer). I was wondering if it is advisable to attempt to continue using my existing backups or start new backups from scratch. My existing backups are on a WD Red Plus 4Tb drive, which is full and is currently being managed by UrBackup cleanup routines. I have an identical 4Tb drive I can use instead (or in addition to, via LVM), new-in-box.

Here is my Current/New setup:

Current UrBackup server (if you can call this a “server”):
Raspberry Pi3, 1Gb RAM, USB 2.0
Raspian 8 (“Jessie”), Linux kernel 4.4.48
UrBackup version 2.2.4
4Tb WD Red Plus external disk in USB 3.0/eSATA enclosure, but plugged into Pi’s USB 2.0 port, ext4 format
Network access via WiFi 2.4GHz

New UrBackup server:
Homebuilt, a couple of years old, but still plenty potent enough for UrBackup
AMD 8-core CPU 4.0GHz, 16Gb RAM, USB 3.0, SATA III, eSATA
Network access via gigabit wired ethernet (2 ports)
LinuxMint 18.3, Linux kernel 4.10.0, running Docker server

Sooo… Can I/Should I just install the newest UrBackup server software (maybe via Docker, maybe standalone - haven’t decided, any suggestions?) and then move my existing backup data drive over to the new server and point UrBackup at it, continuing my backups with that as a base? Or would it be better to just create an entirely new/clean UrBackup setup and start over from scratch? And possibly change from ext4 format to something else? Any benefit to continue using an external enclosure for the drive (USB 3.0 or eSata) over installing it internally using SATA III interface (not that SATA III is going to add any speed for a harddrive)?

It’s amazing how well that Raspberry Pi3 has worked for UrBackup over the years. It does bog down for full image backups of the Windows computers and full file backups for the Linux boxes. It’s gets them done, but none too quickly. Incrementals are reasonably fast (I do those every day for four computers (used to be six).

Thanks in advance for any help, tips, recommendations, experiences, etc. !

2

You can continue with existing backups if you want to, just make sure UID/GID of urbackup user is the same on that new system and don’t forget to move /var/urbackup as well.

I prefer to keep backups and /var/urbackup on a ZFS drive, maybe btrfs if ZFS is not supported. If you consider starting afresh then you should look up many advantages these filesystems would give you over ext4.

What is that about with these ancient distros you mentioned? I hope it is a typo or copy/paste error… :slight_smile: