News
Sports
In my line of work, a bad day at the office is when someone brings in a computer with a failed hard drive and no backup.
Experience has turned me into a glass is half-full technician, reciting the articles of Murphy’s Law as it pertains to data on a daily basis. Beyond catastrophic events, there is the ever-present threat of viruses; data gets corrupted and humans err. And these things always happen at the worst time - if you are a CPA, it will happen on April 14; if you are a retailer, Dec. 24. Your only safeguard is a solid backup and recovery plan.
A good backup and recovery plan begins with three questions: What data are you going to backup? How often will the backup be created? Where will the copy be stored?
People often skip the first question, opting to back up everything, every time. It is important to keep in mind that the more data you back up, the more your plan is going to cost, the longer it will take to complete each backup, and the more bandwidth you sacrifice in the process.
A good backup plan includes selecting files based on usage and file type. Files that are no longer in use are more suited to archiving than a periodic backup. Program files are better reinstalled than recovered in most situations. Database files should not be backed up while in use and locked files cannot be copied. Most data applications come with a built-in backup feature. The backup created by the software represents a single point in time and that file should be included in the backup, and not the live or open database. By selecting files for backup instead of entire drives, you will reduce storage and bandwidth requirements, as well as your recovery time.
The next consideration is how often should a new backup be created. This question introduces the concept of acceptable data loss. If your backup runs at midnight and your system suffers data corruption near the close of the business day, when you recover last night’s file you will lose all transactions entered. To answer the “how often” question you must consider what is the appropriate balance between acceptable data loss and system performance.
Real time backup products recently have become available that continuously back up data as it is changed. Such products can tax your bandwidth and create additional processing overhead. There are other products that employ incremental or differential backups. Both of these options are especially useful when running a full backup. It will take more time than is available between working hours, but they also increase your recovery time. For business critical applications, down time equals lost revenue.
The last question to address is where to keep your backup. Data storage options can be divided into two categories: local and remote. A backup copy created at the same location as the original copy of the data is a local backup. There are several software packages available that allow you to schedule your local backup and that can be used to facilitate data recovery. The copy can be saved to portable, external media like magnetic tapes, or optical disks; an external hard drive or other network-attached storage; or to another computer or server. On the upside, backup and recovery are quick and the software is a one-time expense. But if there is a catastrophic event that destroys your computer or data center, most likely your backup also will be destroyed. If you are keeping a copy on portable media, you can plan to take it to another location, but this introduces the possibility of human error. The alternative is to keep the copy of your data in a remote storage facility. This typically carries a monthly service charge, with the cost depending on the amount of storage required.
A good backup and recovery considers what, when and where, and necessitates making choices that weigh acceptable data loss against acceptable down time. In most situations, your needs will be met effectively by employing a combination of technologies. You should test recovery occasionally to ensure success. And remember, any backup is better than no backup at all.
Experience has turned me into a glass is half-full technician, reciting the articles of Murphy’s Law as it pertains to data on a daily basis. Beyond catastrophic events, there is the ever-present threat of viruses; data gets corrupted and humans err. And these things always happen at the worst time - if you are a CPA, it will happen on April 14; if you are a retailer, Dec. 24. Your only safeguard is a solid backup and recovery plan.
A good backup and recovery plan begins with three questions: What data are you going to backup? How often will the backup be created? Where will the copy be stored?
People often skip the first question, opting to back up everything, every time. It is important to keep in mind that the more data you back up, the more your plan is going to cost, the longer it will take to complete each backup, and the more bandwidth you sacrifice in the process.
A good backup plan includes selecting files based on usage and file type. Files that are no longer in use are more suited to archiving than a periodic backup. Program files are better reinstalled than recovered in most situations. Database files should not be backed up while in use and locked files cannot be copied. Most data applications come with a built-in backup feature. The backup created by the software represents a single point in time and that file should be included in the backup, and not the live or open database. By selecting files for backup instead of entire drives, you will reduce storage and bandwidth requirements, as well as your recovery time.
The next consideration is how often should a new backup be created. This question introduces the concept of acceptable data loss. If your backup runs at midnight and your system suffers data corruption near the close of the business day, when you recover last night’s file you will lose all transactions entered. To answer the “how often” question you must consider what is the appropriate balance between acceptable data loss and system performance.
Real time backup products recently have become available that continuously back up data as it is changed. Such products can tax your bandwidth and create additional processing overhead. There are other products that employ incremental or differential backups. Both of these options are especially useful when running a full backup. It will take more time than is available between working hours, but they also increase your recovery time. For business critical applications, down time equals lost revenue.
The last question to address is where to keep your backup. Data storage options can be divided into two categories: local and remote. A backup copy created at the same location as the original copy of the data is a local backup. There are several software packages available that allow you to schedule your local backup and that can be used to facilitate data recovery. The copy can be saved to portable, external media like magnetic tapes, or optical disks; an external hard drive or other network-attached storage; or to another computer or server. On the upside, backup and recovery are quick and the software is a one-time expense. But if there is a catastrophic event that destroys your computer or data center, most likely your backup also will be destroyed. If you are keeping a copy on portable media, you can plan to take it to another location, but this introduces the possibility of human error. The alternative is to keep the copy of your data in a remote storage facility. This typically carries a monthly service charge, with the cost depending on the amount of storage required.
A good backup and recovery considers what, when and where, and necessitates making choices that weigh acceptable data loss against acceptable down time. In most situations, your needs will be met effectively by employing a combination of technologies. You should test recovery occasionally to ensure success. And remember, any backup is better than no backup at all.
Katy Williams operates Think Development, a computer consulting company located in downtown Aspen. Business Lounge is a feature of Inside Business, published Tuesdays in The Aspen Times.
