

I have internal RAID1s that store at least two directories apart from any OS or home dev.
…/repos …/misc
Misc contain timestamp fstabs, mdadm.conf, rust/python/apt user-inatalled package names, among other notes and small files.
I also sync my master org directory between my documents snapshots and the repos dir




The process of backing up is a matter of preference. Several solutions exist from vendors to freeware.
Lots of people use ‘cp’ or ‘rsync’. I use those prior to borg backups of major repos or archive folders.
Install process is easy. Aside from hypervisors and stuff like that, I just install my OS on bare metal partition, and create a sidecar OS to do maintainance from chroot