An Introduction to Tape Backup

If you run a small business, chances are you're saving important files to a server. But what happens when disaster strikes? How are you ensuring that your files won't be lost? Many people fail to realize that the loss of files could cripple their business. You can insure your office and equipment, but you can't insure files. You can't repair or buy back lost files. Ipso facto, they are lost!

This brings us to the concept of disaster recovery. What is disaster recovery? If you're thinking that disaster recovery is about frantically trying to get back data that's already been lost, then you're already behind the 8-ball! Disaster recovery is about safeguarding your organization's data so that it can be safely restored in event of a crippling disaster. And having an industry-standard file backup strategy is undoubtedly the most important part of disaster recovery.

What you have to do is ensure that all files on the server are backed up to another storage medium -- tape, removable hard disk, NAS device, and so on. Most businesses choose to use tape. Let's look at how you can set up a tape backup strategy for your own business.

1. Tape -- the perfect backup medium

Isn't tape an anachronism in the age of optical disks, removable hard drives and a plethora of whiz-bang, random-access storage media? Tape is indeed a dinosaur in relative terms, but it's ideal for backup. Tape is slow, but can store a lot of data... one mid-range tape should be enough to backup your entire server. Plus, tape is extremely cheap -- mid-range tapes cost around $20 each.

2. When should you backup?

Typically, tape backup is performed at the end of each day. Just put in the tape and let the backup process run overnight. If your server ever suffers a catastrophic disaster, you have at least saved all your files from the previous day.

3. Tape Rotation

The ideal tape backup solution would involve using a new tape for each backup. This means purchasing a new tape for every day of your business's operations. This is hardly cost-effective for your business. Tape is cheap, but not that cheap!

This is why we speak of tape rotation. Tape rotation means to reuse tapes from previous backups. The simplest tape rotation scheme is to have one tape for each day of the working week. Tapes are labelled Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

You can restore data from any one of the tapes in your library, or in this case, any day in the past the week. This strategy requires only five tapes, but only provides one week's data backup history.

4. Grandfather-Father-Son -- A Case Study

The grandfather-father-son schedule is the most widely used method, and involves backing up data in the following way:

* daily -- on the "son tapes"
* weekly ?- on the "father tapes"
* monthly -? on the "grandfather tapes"

This system is far more powerful than the five-tape rotation, but requires more tapes.

This strategy provides you with the ability to restore data from the last week, plus any Monday over the last month, plus any month for as many monthly tapes as you have. Variations on this scheme are available, and provide a trade-off between the number of tapes required, and the number of monthly tapes available.

5. Different types of backup

Different types of backups are available in backup software.

* Full -- all files, system data
* Differential -- all files added or changed since the last full backup
* Incremental -- all files added or changed since the last full, differential or incremental backup
* Daily -- all files added or changed on the day of the backup

A Full backup will copy all files and system data to the backup media. It allows for the complete restore of all data from one single tape.

Differential, Incremental and Daily are partial backups are designed to reduce amount of data backed-up to the media, resulting in faster backups. To restore data using one of these backups, the last Full backup tape will also be required, along with any other partial backups since the last Full backup.

6. Tape backup software

At this point you may be thinking that performing tape backup is a complex task. Tape rotations, incremental backups... sure, you can try to do this manually, but this would make the backup process hiddeously difficult and prone to human error! The solution is to invest in a good piece of server backup software that will manage and schedule your tape backups for you.

What should you look for in tape backup software? For many small business owners, the price is crucial. Many brands of backup software are just too expensive -- in the $1000+ range -- and contain features that you'll never need. Look for a backup utility that's designed specially for small business instead. It should be simple-to-use, reliable and affordable. Choose a good tape backup software and you'll be well on your way to safeguarding your files and data.

Linus Chang is a backup expert and the lead developer of BackupAssist-- backup software that is simple and affordable, and perfect for small and medium businesses. Protect your Windows servers, including SQL Server and Exchange Server, to tape, REV drive, hard drive, NAS and more, at a fraction of the cost of other backup programs. Designed as a fix for NTBackup bugs and issues.

---

The Making of Energy Efficient Datacenters

The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron is a... Read More

Purchasing Laser Toner Refills

Laser toner refills can be expensive. Over the life of... Read More

Laptop Computer Extras for the Mobile Traveler

A laptop computer certainly provides you with an unprecedented level... Read More

Small Computers

Today, small form factor computers demolish the myth that bigger... Read More

The Right Way To Discharge Capacitor In Switch Mode Power Supplies

Switch mode power supply contain some large filter capacitors that... Read More

A Review of Refurbished HP Laptops

HP refurbished laptops can be found on their website hpshopping.com.... Read More

Ink Cartridge Recycling 101

Let's take a moment to think about the topic of... Read More

Basics of RAID

A couple of the recent Tech Tips from www.geeks.com have... Read More

A Guide to Refurbished Laptops

Computing freedom, independence, and mobility don't have to come with... Read More

ESR Meter - The Capabilities To Check Beyond Electrolytic Capacitor

There is something good about esr meter because besides electrolytic... Read More

5 Tips For Buying The Right Laptop Computer

It's easy to be intimidated by all the laptop models... Read More

Buying Cheap Refurbished Laptops

When comparing refurbished laptop models, ask about these specifications:Central Processing... Read More

Selecting an Ink Jet printer?With Low Operating Cost

Printer technology has made tremendous advances in the past five... Read More

Digital Camera Prints - Getting the Most for Your Money

Digital cameras have really taken off in popularity in recent... Read More

The Hard Disk

From throwing our unnecessary files, to defragmenting, from partitions to... Read More

Protecting Your Computer From Power Surges, Data Loss, Viruses, And Spyware

Protecting Against A Power Surge:Your computer is an expensive investment;... Read More

How to Change, Upgade or Remove an IDE Hard Drive

Hard drives - Hard drives are a little more complicated.... Read More

Where Can I Find The Best Case Mods Online and Save Money?

Are you captivated by the stunning Case Mods you've seen... Read More

Used Laptop Computer: Your Quick Purchase Inspection Guide ? Part 2

Used laptop computers are everywhere these days. How can you... Read More

The Road Ahead

We live in an area that has begun to... Read More

Intel Celeron vs Pentium

The Celeron and Pentium Processors are two of Intel's best... Read More

What Is A Fuse? And How To Test It.

A fuse is a very thin wire, which either melts... Read More

Laptop Computers Instigate Classroom Revolution!

Have you noticed that laptop computers are beginning to dictate... Read More

How to Read Zener Diode Code

Many technicians are confused on how to really read a... Read More

How to Solve Multiple Paper Loading Problem in HP5L and HP6L Laser Printer

Have you ever encountered before the problem of having multiple... Read More

Best DVDs for Your Personal DVD Player

When bought personal DVD player, the very next thing to... Read More

The Newest Thing in Lighting - LED Lighting and What It Can Do

The other day my son said to me, what else... Read More

Buying a Refurbished Dell Laptop

Dell offers a full line of refurbished laptops on their... Read More

Choosing a Tape Drive

Tape drives remain the leading technology used by organizations for... Read More

Top Three Factors to Consider While Choosing a Data Center for Your Business

Data Centers are the core of the Internet. The computer... Read More

USB Key Drives - Useful Tool

There are many different names for these drives, just so... Read More

Dell Inspiron 600m Notebook Computer

After twelve years of owning desktop computers, I finally opted... Read More

Emergency Response VSAT Internet Communications

As 2005 begins, there are a number of products on... Read More