Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of Unix Backup & Recovery is an Indian gharial (sometimes spelled gavial), a resident of deep, fast-moving rivers in India and neighboring countries. Growing six to seven meters long, the gharial is one of the largest members of the crocodilian family. It is most notable for its extremely long, narrow snout. This snout, which is lined with razor-sharp teeth, is perfectly suited for catching and eating fish, the gharial's principal food. The narrow shape results in little water resistance, making rapid side-to-side snatched easy. The many sharp teeth are well-suited for holding onto struggling, slippery fish. The gharial's short, poorly muscled legs make it a very awkward mover on land, and thus it only emerges from the water for nesting and basking in the sun. Like other crocodiles, the gharial has often been accused of being a man eater. However, this animal is as poorly suited for eating humans as it is well-suited for eating fish. Findings of human remains and jewelry in gharial stomachs has perpetuated this belief, but since Hindi burial rituals in the gharial's habitat involve setting the cremated body afloat in the river, this is probably where these items come from.

Gharials are highly endangered, and came close to extinction in 1970s. Thanks to conservation efforts there has been some recovery of the gharial population. They have been protected since the 1970s, but males are still sometimes hunted for their snouts, which are said to have aphrodisiac properties. Gharials can also become caught in fishing nets, resulting in their death.

In summary, in the words of this book's author: "Let's see . . . huge, intimidating, ugly creature that's not actually harmful to humans . . . That sounds like backups to me!" Clairemarie Fisher O'Leary was the production editor and Norma Emory was the copyeditor for Unix Backup & Recovery. Nancy Wolfe Kotary was the production manager. Ellie Fountain Maden and Melanie Wang provided quality control. Mike Sierra provided FrameMaker technical support. Ellen Troutman wrote the index.

Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book, using a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. The cover layout was produced with QuarkXPress 3.32 using the ITC Garamond font. Whenever possible, our books use RepKover™, a durable and flexible lay-flat binding. If the page count exceeds RepKover™'s limit, perfect binding is used.

The inside layout was designed by Edie Freedman and implemented in FrameMaker 5.5 by Mike Sierra. The text and heading fonts are ITC Garamond Light and Garamond Book. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Rhon Porter using Macromedia FreeHand 8 and Adobe Photoshop 5. This colophon was written by Clairemarie Fisher O'Leary.