I would like to better understand the pro and cons between rsync and rdiff
 

I am setting up a backup system for obvious reasons. I have succesfully installed an systemimager server and have a bootable disk at hand but that still depends on my discipline to carry out the command getimage (since human interaction is required during the process).

So I want on top of that to install either rsync or rdiff according the provided tutorials here on the website. But before I make a choice between the two I would like to better understand the pro's and con's between the two.

In case you would want to know I run debian sarge 3.1

Who could tell me in a nutshell the difference between the methods and make it easier for me to make a choice ?

Thanks in advance

Well, after Falko published his rdiff backup tutorial I wanted to use that. However my friend is using Suse 9.x and I have Debian 3.1. The native packages that are available through yast2 / apt weren't compatible and I didn't want to invest too much time into it.
Soon after Falko published the same guide for rSync and I found Mike Rubels site where he shows how to operate with hard-links to create incremental backups. So I tried rsync for backing up and the Suse and debian one were compatible with each other. That is my reason for using rSync :)
I think also the algorithm of comparing files and then transferring them are different but I didn't put too much into research of that.

Well, that isn't exactely an answer to your question but my motivation why I chose rsync :)

Thanks
 

Thanks,

I does help me remind myself to figure out the configuration of my friends server before choosing something.

I do hope other members of the forum can help me with some more comments on the pros and cons between rsync and rdiff