Using rsync may seem obtuse to new users at first. However, once you know how to structure and alias your commands, it is one of the absolute fastest & reliable ways to run backup systems:

rsync --h and man grep will tell you all the flags which are available to use. We will only detail some of the most important ones below:

There are more flags you can combine with these basic rsync commands to fine-tune how your backups are executed. Play around with them on some demo directories (ones which are disposable, or otherwise backed up somewhere safe already) to see how they affect your files!