Tink vs GNU ddrescue
GNU ddrescue copies failing disks with a mapfile. That is not a mechanic. Tink installs in one command, watches the Linux host, explains what is wrong, and helps you fix it.
GNU ddrescue images the disk. Tink answers “why is this VPS sick?”
Accidental sysadmins land on GNU ddrescue because a free failing-disk imager looks like insurance. Then the host volume fills, nginx dies, and the last mapfile still looks complete — no retry-pass match for host fill. A filling /var is a Tink warning; it is not a GNU ddrescue job unless you scraped imaging mail and watched it.
Tink is the other job: detect the issue on the machine, say why it happened in plain English, propose the command, and run it only after you approve. Keep using GNU ddrescue if you already run failing-disk imaging. Use Tink if you run Linux servers and want a mechanic.
| Feature | Tink | GNU ddrescue |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 30 seconds (one curl | sh command) | Hours — attach the dying disk, run ddrescue with a mapfile, retry-passes, maybe reverse, then a host that still has no mechanic after the last copy finished |
| What you get | Working monitoring, diagnosis, and approved fixes | A failing-disk imager. Disk fill, nginx, Postgres, and certs stay your problem until you SSH past the last mapfile |
| Pricing | Free (Scout) / $9 / $29 per machine per month | GPL and free. You still pay the person who owns the VPS after the last ddrescue pass looks finished |
| Hidden costs | None — fully managed | A quiet mapfile that is not host fill, downtime to image USB, retry-passes homework, and a second tool to tell you the box is sick while the last copy still showed complete |
| Monitoring approach | Agent on the server — CPU, disk, services, logs, certs, ports | GNU ddrescue mapfile, retry-passes, reverse, domain mapfile. ddrescue does not watch a quiet cert or host auth.log after the last imaging session ended |
| Configuration | None after install — heuristics and AI | Which /dev/sdX to copy, mapfile vs domain mapfile, --retry-passes vs -R, and which failed ddrescue session actually pages you |
| Plain-English diagnosis | Yes — AI explains root cause, impact, and fix | You read the mapfile, then SSH into the host to change the Linux box ddrescue already imaged off |
| Fix execution | Proposes and executes approved commands with an audit trail | Copy bad sectors into an image — GNU ddrescue cannot free host disk, rotate a cert, or stop SSH brute-force unless you run ddrescue again |
| Alerting | Built-in across 8 channels | Not a GNU ddrescue job — cron mail from a failed image plus a separate monitoring tool have to fire |
| Predictive alerts | Yes — disk fills in ~6 days, memory and CPU trends | Not a GNU ddrescue job — a mapfile date does not forecast a quiet host filling up |
| SSH brute-force detection | Built-in — parses auth.log every scan | Never — GNU ddrescue does not read host auth.log, journald, or firewall state after the last imaging session ended |
| Machine offline detection | Agent presence monitoring with multi-channel alerts | Silence if the host dies after the last ddrescue pass — unless you built a separate uptime check |
| Public status page | Shareable URL with 90-day history | None — GNU ddrescue has no customer-facing status page for the Linux host |
| Weekly fleet digest | Automated Monday digest + daily brief when issues are open | None — a mapfile recap is not a plain-English fleet narrative |
| On-call tracking | Built-in /oncall command + incident acknowledgment | Not included — wire failed ddrescue passes into PagerDuty or another incident tool |
| Conversation interface | Telegram, WhatsApp, web dashboard, CLI | The ddrescue log, mapfile status, and SSH. No mechanic you text when /var filled and the last copy still showed complete |
| Learning curve | None — works after install | Steep — mapfile, retry-passes, reverse, domain mapfile, infile vs outfile, and which failure is the dying disk vs the running host |
| Best for | Freelancers, small teams, accidental sysadmins (1-50 Linux servers) | Teams that already run GNU ddrescue for failing-disk imaging, not a sick-VPS mechanic |
When GNU ddrescue is the right choice
Keep using GNU ddrescue when you already want that exact job:
- Failing-disk imaging — you need a mapfile, retry-passes, or a reverse copy, not a mechanic.
- An existing recovery stack — live ISO boots, dying SATA, and a lab LAN matter more than guest nginx, certs, and SSH on a quiet VPS.
- An existing lab or nested setup — GNU ddrescue already runs, the mapfile already exists, and someone owns the USB stick.
- Hosts that only page on image or restore death — you already run failed-backup mail, not a sick-box SSH loop.
The real cost of “just run ddrescue”
GNU ddrescue images dying disks. A working ops loop for five Linux boxes is not:
- A healthy mapfile still means you SSH into the host and change the box by hand when it gets sick later
- Host fill, nginx, certs, and SSH brute-force never appear unless a separate tool scraped those signals and a rule fired
- A filling /var is a Tink disk warning on every scan — GNU ddrescue will stay quiet until the next imaging session
- A single VPS with a dead agent still needs a mechanic, not another ddrescue pass
For a 5-server team, Tink Mechanic at $45/month is cheaper than the engineer who keeps failed-backup notifications alive after a green GNU ddrescue session, and every scan includes a diagnosis a quiet mapfile will not type.
No mapfile or retry-passes homework. No silent host. One command install.
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