Backup and Restore Databases and Copy full Directories With Lightning Speed

[danielmichel]

"In computing, Secure Shell or SSH is a set of standards and an associated network protocol that allows establishing a secure channel between a local and a remote computer. It uses public-key cryptography to authenticate the remote computer and (optionally) to allow the remote computer to authenticate the user. SSH provides confidentiality and integrity of data exchanged between the two computers using encryption and message authentication codes (MACs). SSH is typically used to log into a remote machine and execute commands, but it also supports tunneling, forwarding arbitrary TCP ports and X11 connections; it can transfer files using the associated SFTP or SCP protocols. An SSH server, by default, listens on the standard TCP port 22"

I discovered SSH a few years back after having installed the forums. I use it to backup and restore our database as a weekly; sometimes daily routine. I can copy full directories into new or existing ones in a matter of a second or two. After having played around with some commands I realized the sheer power and speed of SSH clients.

Although i'm not as well versed in the command lines as I would like to be, I recommend webmasters ask your hosts about enabling SSH as it is usually available only by request and testing it out for yourselves.

[johnboulder]

Good point Danny

Another thing to consider is the security of your transfers - look at the following for instance:

Tracing route to johnboulder.co.uk ...
1 161.58.14.161 (161.58.14.161) 0.414 ms 0.283 ms 0.248 ms
2 ge-1-1-0-278.r00.stngva01.us.wh.verio.net (204.2.123.185) 0.421 ms 0.309 ms 0.339 ms
3 vl-5.r01.stngva01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.27.190) 0.395 ms 0.391 ms 0.390 ms
4 xe-1-2-0.r20.asbnva01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.84) 0.608 ms 0.576 ms 0.594 ms
5 ae-0.r21.asbnva01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.17) 0.797 ms 0.518 ms 0.480 ms
6 * p16-0.telia.asbnva01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.8.98) 88.629 ms *
7 nyk-bb1-link.telia.net (213.248.83.21) 43.486 ms nyk-bb2-pos0-3-0.telia.net (213.248.80.137) 6.365 ms nyk-bb2-link.telia.net (80.91.250.18) 6.273 ms
8 ldn-bb2-link.telia.net (80.91.249.250) 74.421 ms ldn-bb2-pos6-0-0.telia.net (213.248.65.209) 73.845 ms ldn-bb1-link.telia.net (80.91.249.248) 77.534 ms
9 ldn-b3-pos6-0.telia.net (213.248.65.238) 75.857 ms 75.904 ms 73.735 ms
10 fasthost-111812-ldn-b3.c.telia.net (213.248.75.154) 78.028 ms 77.721 ms 78.070 ms
11 * * *
12 213.171.217.2 (213.171.217.2) 79.409 ms 78.155 ms 79.705 ms
13 * * *

Run on http://www.t3shopper.com/tools/traceroute/ as my router doesn't support the windows tracert.

This is just to show you how many computers a transfer could go through while linking to your site if using FTP or SSH.

The main advabtage of SSH is the encryption it provides over the connection, which means people will not be able to look into your communications while you are transferring sensitive information.

Regards

[Brighteyes]

backing up and restoring databases via SSH is SO far over my head it's pathetic, is it not?

This is a most useful post, Danny. Now let's see if I can decipher it!