Q: Backup Hadoop in order to install new cluster, best practice I am building a new Hadoop cluster (expanding number of nodes and extending capacity of current nodes) and need to back up all of the existing data. Right now I am just tar-ing everything and sending it to another server. 
Is there a smarter way of doing this which will allow me to easily deploy once the new cluster is set up?
Edit: I should also point out that I don't store any data on the cluster. I bring data to the cluster, process it, and then send the processed data back to the original server. Any temporary data on the cluster is the deleted.

A: Use Distcp to transfer the HDFS data to other cluster or any cloud inorder to store the data. 
If you want to schedule the Backup process you may avail OOZIE-DISTCP for backup process!! 
