[arch-general] Basic tar backup ?

So I just want to tar up the whole box (small server)...can I just do this: tar -zcvpf /archive/full-backup-`date '+%d-%B-%Y'`.tar.gz \ --directory / --exclude=mnt --exclude=proc --exclude=dev --exclude=sys . Sorry if this a dumb question...I'm a Linux newb coming from BSD's ;)