Difference between "tar" and ufsdump"

GNU `tar' saves many files together into a single tape or disk
archive, and can restore individual files from the archive. It
includes multivolume support, the ability to archive sparse files,
automatic archive compression/decompression, remote archives and
special features that allow `tar' to be used for incremental and full
backups. If you wish to do remote backups with tar, you will need
to install the `rmt' package as well.
ufsdump backs up all files specified by files_to_dump (nor-
mally either a whole file system or files within a file sys-
tem changed after a certain date) to magnetic tape,
diskette, or disk file. When running ufsdump, the file sys-
tem must be inactive; otherwise, the output of ufsdump may
be inconsistent and restoring files correctly may be impos-
sible. A file system is inactive when it is unmouned or the
system is in single user mode. A file system is not con-
sidered inactive if one tree of the file system is quiescent
while another tree has files or directories being modified

Go and read this site...http://www.uwsg.iu.edu/usail/man/solaris/ufsdump.1.html
http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/solaris/RPMS/usparc/Solaris2.5.1/tar-solaris-1.12-1.usparc.html

Hi
it depends on your requirement use ufsdump for backing up all your files. Use tar for backing up only mounted files and non-device files.

For a concise explanation of the differences,visit http://data-recovery-reviews.com/simple-unix-backup.htm

Thanks
Gary.
(sticky mail me in case u need any other help)

In my opinion tar backup is better than ufsdump. Although it may be a more tedious process than ufsdump(depending on how many files your backing-up), in my opinion its a good trade-off when you consider the security risks invovled.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but running ufsdump requires superuser (root) access. Because the backup operator is usually separate from the system administrator, this would require the creation of another account with UID of 0. Even if the command line access can be controlled by creating a script in the account's .profile, such as:

./XXXX (where XXXX is the referenced file)
exit

It still creates a situation wherein 2 accounts have a UID of 0. This inherently provides excessive logical access to the backup operators, which may be exploited by hackers. Especially if the file as referenced in the script is not properly protected. This is just my 2 cents worth, coming from an IT security point of view.