rsync is a widely used tool for synchronisation so to keep copies of a file on multiple computers the same. Because of its flexibility it has become the defacto standard on Linux and other similar systems. While newer protocols and tools such as Dropbox and BitTorrent Sync overlap with and improve on some of rsync’s capability. Rsync is still relevant today both for syncing and for other function such as local directory duplication and large file copying.

tar is a feature rich but often confusing archiving tool most commonly used on Linux and BSD systems. One of the great benefits of tar over other more modern tools such as 7z, RAR or ZIP is that it is open source, free and platform agnostic. Even more importantly for Linux users tar archives preserve user and file permissions allowing for easy directory backups and restoration.

Over the years I have looked around for easy to use MySQL database backup tools that I can quickly and reliably automate. I’ve tried many unsatisfactory solutions but finally I have found something I am happy with, Perscona’s XtraBackup.

With the recent admission from Adobe that it lost over 150 million user accounts from its online database in October. I thought it would be wise to go over my tool of choice for password management, KeePass.

This article was meant to be a brief piece on how to mount an external USB drive, but it quickly spiralled out when I started writing about all the nuances and potential issues one might encounter. So I have a created a quick summary of the commands on how to mount a drive below. But I highly recommend reading the rest of the article as there are a number of potential pitfalls with the Pi and external USB drives that are addressed.