Backup & Recovery (Rsync/Tar/Dd)

Stop worrying if your archives are actually readable

🧩 The Challenge

You’ve just finished dumping a multi-terabyte database to a tarball and you’re terrified the tape or drive actually bit-rotted before you finished the write. There is nothing worse than realizing your only restore point is a pile of corrupted bits three weeks later.

💡 The Fix

Use the verify flag when creating your archive to force a read-back after the write completes. It adds time to the job, but it saves your sanity when the production server dies at 3 AM.

tar -cvzf backup_data.tar.gz --verify /data/critical_db

⚙️ Why It Works

Adding the verify option forces the system to re-read the written data and compare it against the checksum of the original files, essentially proving that what got saved isn’t just garbage.

🚀 Pro-Tip: Run this inside a screen or tmux session if you’re worried about your SSH connection dropping halfway through.

Linux Tips & Tricks | © ngelinux.com | 8/22/2026