tar cf – local-dir-eliotwalker | ssh -l mctt remote-pc.com “gzip -c > corr.tar.gz”
alternative:
tar cjvf – /home | ssh root@backup.pixelchaos.net “cat > /backup/home.tar.bz2″
You can also use dd (or any other data/pipe handling commands):
tar cjvf – /home | ssh root@backup.pixelchaos.net “dd of=/backup/home.tar.bz2″
To restore that same file over ssh:
ssh root@backup.pixelchaos.net “cat /backup/home.tar.bz2″ | tar xjvf -