Dar Documentation

Dar used by Per Jensen

Who
Per Jensen is the author of several tools relying on dar like dar-backup and dar-backup-image
Context
Backup and archiving of personal data, especially media files
Start date
Year 2019
Backup/archive size
yearly backup of around 1TB, I keep FULLs 5 years back in time, latest 3 monthly DIFFs and INCs 40 days back in time to overlap latest DIFF
Media used
Disk, cloud (encrypted)
Why dar
The simplicity of restoring at a later time, possibly many years into the future is a big one for me. All I need is a static dar (note to self: learn how to build the static)

The robustness of dar and Denis's long time commitment to keep dar current and fixing bugs is also a major driver.

Primary use case is safeguarding photo and video clips. I am getting into photographing dogs at dog shows, so backup sizes will probably increase over the next years.
other remarks
The yearly backup increase by 15-20% annually
Source
Per Jensen in December 2025

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