Is rsync right for us?

[Amadeus R.]

> I'll check out all the options and do some
> testing, and let you know my results.

If you use the --dry-run, rsync will act exactly like a back up is being 
  done, but no data is transfered or altered in anyway. So you can try 
all sorts of crazy things without risking data =)

Try also the --log-format='%i %l %f' which will inform you what will 
happen to the files, and what have changed (size, checksum, timestamp, 
permissions, etc...). This requires rsync 2.6.4

See the new manpage for syntax.