Plan for the worst, hope for the best: backup & disaster recovery, Part 2.In March CTR See click-through rate. , Part 1 stressed the importance of regular periodic backups with disaster prevention in mind, and a focus on the ultimate goal of disaster recovery while implementing a plan for disaster prevention. Hardware The device selected for backup is fundamental to any successful plan. In the old days, minicomputer (1) An earlier medium-scale, centralized computer that functioned as a multiuser system for up to several hundred users. The minicomputer industry was launched in 1959 after Digital Equipment Corporation introduced its PDP-1 for $120,000, an unheard-of low price for a computer in user's choices were limited to using relatively small removable disk A disk or disk cartridge that is inserted into the drive for reading and writing and removed when not required. Using optical technologies, CDs and DVDs are the most common examples. and open reel A reel of magnetic tape. It typically refers to half-inch open reels that still remain in the archives of many data libraries. In the 1950s, before the 8-bit byte, 7-track tapes (seven parallel tracks) were used to accommodate a 6-bit character plus parity. tape (first 1600bpi & then 6250bpi drives). In today's backup landscape, while there are many more devices to choose from, the same old conundrum applies as back in the early days--spend a lot to get the best, or buy a cheaper alternative and potentially pay the price in other ways. Bottom line, the device needs to be of sufficient size and speed to allow a full system backup in a reasonable period of time. Choices for users have expanded over the years from single tape QIC (Quarter Inch Cartridge) A magnetic tape technology introduced in the early 1980s that has been widely used for backup. It was the first popular tape format for PCs. , 4MM and 8MM drives, to DAT (1) (Dynamic Address Translator) A hardware circuit that converts a virtual memory address into a real address. See also DAT file. (2) (Digital Audio Tape) A magnetic tape technology used for backing up data. 5, AIT, Super DLT (Digital Linear Tape) A magnetic tape technology originally developed by Digital for its VAX line. The technology was later sold to Quantum, which makes it available to other manufacturers. DLT uses half-inch, single-hub cartridges similar to IBM's 3480/3490/3590 line. and LTO (Linear Tape Open) A family of open magnetic tape standards developed by HP, IBM and Quantum (formerly the Certance subsidiary of Seagate) that are licensed to third-party vendors. LTO cartridges contain a memory that stores historical usage data. 2 drives, in single unit or autoloader configurations, that offer mind boggling capacities and speeds when compared to what was available even five years ago. A good example of the latest and greatest hardware is the pending release of a new LTO2 drive slated for this summer with a native capacity of 400GB on a single tape. As usual, this drive will have built-in compression logic and will be quoted (using 2:1 compression) as a 800GB capacity drive. Whether 400 or 800, the amount of data stored on a single tape is now astounding a·stound tr.v. a·stound·ed, a·stound·ing, a·stounds To astonish and bewilder. See Synonyms at surprise. [From Middle English astoned, past participle of astonen, . Furthermore, I've found in our own lab that the LTO2 drive backs up routinely anywhere between 300MB/minute to 2GB/minute. The speed is directly related to whether the backup is a standard file-by-file network backup or a higher speed image backup. For those who don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. , image-based backups are the absolute fastest means of backing up and restoring a partition or disk. Just for grins, let me compare the LTO2 of today against the first 8MM device released on Wang's VS minicomputer (my market before entering Windows). When Wang initially released the WUBU (Wang Unattended Backup Unit) using an Exabyte 8200 it cost about $20,000 for an 8MM tape, holding a little over 2GB, with a backup rate of about 400-600MB per hour. Fast-forward to today and compare that Stone Age device to a hot Super DLT or LTO2 drive that easily backs up at rates of 400-600MB per minute--and at a fraction of the cost! For smaller users, the name of the game is still 4MM DDS-5 drives with 36GB native capacity. Such drives offer capacity, speed, and economy, to thousands of users of small to medium size networks. 4MM based autoloaders offer even greater economy of scale. Today's state of the art drives are so fast that keeping them streaming at a high rate of speed can be difficult and requires both a fast system and efficient software. Most organizations find this a luxury, but as a prudent investment, I always recommend buying a second tape drive. A second tape drive is inexpensive and can be used as a secondary backup unit in case the primary drive fails. It can also be used to either duplicate nightly backup tapes and/or automatically cascade full tapes (if appropriate software is purchased). Duplicating a backup tape for off-site storage is a key disaster prevention method and can be implemented either through optional hardware or software. If you are not practicing off-site media storage, you are proverbially placing all your eggs in one basket. A single event like a fire could destroy every onsite backup, with the likely result of also destroying your ability to recover your business from being wiped out by the catastrophe. Software While perhaps not as obvious initially, the software selected for backup and disaster recovery is equally important as the hardware selected. The software should be fast, secure, have all the necessary features, and be extremely reliable. The company behind the software is also an important element in the selection process The accessibility and the quality of support from your selected software provider can make all the difference. Whether working through problems created by hardware or software, operational errors, network issues, or security/permissions problems, there is no substitute for experienced and timely technical support. In my experience, well over half of the technical support calls made by customers with problems really have nothing to do with the backup software See backup program. (tool, software) backup software - Software for doing a backup, often included as part of the operating system. Backup software should provide ways to specify what files get backed up and to where. , so it is extremely important that technical support people be well versed in everything to do with backup and recovery. At a minimum, software selected for backup should provide fast, reliable backup, verify, and restore operation. Other desirable software features include protecting data tapes from being overwritten, hardware error trapping and reporting, email alerts, operator prompts and messages, tape cascading, hardware failure redirect, tape duplication, and restore logic which attempts to recover from bad tapes. It is also important to be aware that there are really two types of backups. The standard file-by-file method backs up and restores function through a machine's operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. . Image backups and restores work on a lower level and bypass a machine's OS. Both types of software offer key benefits. File based backups allow full, incremental, and differential backups. It also typically offers extensive file selection logic to include or exclude files from backup. Image backups are low level and typically backup an entire partition or disk. These backups are fast, and are designed to work in conjunction with special boot media to quickly restore a partition (like an operating system) on an unbootable machine in the shortest amount of time. This type of software is frequently called "Bare Metal 1. bare metal - New computer hardware, unadorned with such snares and delusions as an operating system, an HLL, or even assembler. Commonly used in the phrase "programming on the bare metal", which refers to the arduous work of bit bashing needed to create these basic tools Restore" for its ability to boot a dead machine and bring it back online with minimal time and effort. Both file and image-based backups offer unique benefits, and many users are finding it prudent to incorporate both methods into their daily backup regimes. While not pervasive today, I predict that in three to five years image-based backup will be considered "must-have" software. www.ultrabac.com Morgan Edwards Morgan Edwards, (May 9 1722 – January 25 1795), was a Baptist pastor and historian. Edwards was born in Trevethin parish, Pontypool, Wales, and attended Bristol College, after which he began preaching in 1738. is the CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of UltraBac Software (Bellevue, WA) |
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