Backing up sparse files ... VM's and TrueCrypt ... etc

[Tom Metro]

Edward Ned Harvey wrote:
> I haven't found anything satisfactory yet.

I noticed you didn't mention tar. I'd be surprised if it didn't 
understand sparse files. Though I don't know about the versions ported 
to Windows. And it wouldn't be able to provide incremental updates for 
changes within the sparse file.


> I've also tried rsync.  People all over the place say it should do well, but
> in practice, I found that doing a single incremental takes 2x longer than
> doing the whole image.  So again, IMHO, not useful.  Unless I am simply
> using it wrong.  But I put plenty of effort into making sure I was using it
> right, so I'm really pretty sure I didn't get that wrong.

How about describing how you are using it? Assuming you are backing up 
to a network drive, which machine is it running on, and how is the data 
being transported over the network? What command line are you using?

  -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/