Data Backup – Which is the Better Way?

Before we investigate which data backup method is a best fit for your business, we need to evaluate why and what you expect from your backup solution.

Obviously, we backup our data so we can continue trading after a disaster, but what type of disaster are you protecting yourself from and how quickly does your system need to be back online? Please think about this before you think of the usual stock answer, “I am protecting myself from all disasters and I want to be back online as soon as possible” easy to do if you have £500,000 budget and many man hours to devote to the task of backup. You need to be realistic about your backup and restore plan. Are you planning to recover from a hardware failure, total server failure, fire flood or any malicious event? Remember, the rule, the bigger the disaster you plan for, the bigger budget you will need.

Let’s look at the business backup options;

Tape Backup -

Is a solution which has been around for many years, recent technology means backup and restore is becoming faster and faster. The main benefit of tape based backup is the speed in which you can restore, tape solutions are now capable of moving data at rates of up to 80MB per second. The down side is the initial cost, a high end tape backup device will cost from £4,000 and can work their way up to hundreds of thousands. The software to control the backup starts at around £500 per device to be backed up and can escalate to £3000 per device. Cost of media, £30 per tape and usually you will need a minimum of 10 tapes.

Cost aside, the human intervention requirement can be a drain on resource, for example someone will need to ensure a tape is fitted into the backup device and removed offsite after the backup has taken place. Usually most company’s leave the tape inside the server overnight, leaving your backup exposed to the same threats as your server.

How Do I Create A Comprehensive Data Retention Plan

Clients ask me that question everyday. I wish there was a one-size fits all answer. Unfortunately, data retention policies are not that simple. They are directly dependent upon the specific data and applications. Add in the complications of regulatory requirements, and data retention becomes a problem, which needs a custom solution.

Businesses must ask the following questions: What data should be kept and for how long? What are the best ways to evaluate what data is important to keep? How do you identify and categorize data that is mission critical, business critical and operationally important?

Answers will of course vary by business. One thing is certain: human input will form a data protection policy, not computer software and hardware. Data protection is a team project. IT executives, accounting and operational personnel must work together to develop the right plan. That lends integrity to the entire data retention process.

Most businesses fall short in their data retention policies and procedures. A recent survey by Cohasset Associates Inc. indicated that 76 percent of the respondents believed that improvements are necessary to their data-retention management program.

According to the survey, many businesses do not plan enough to create a quality data protection policy.