Its a Clear Case of Backup and Restore

A Backup Article Contributed by M. Larose

Its a Clear Case of Backup and Restore

Whenever a file needs to be retrieved and IT team revisits the latest backup and use their restore process to put it back in its original location. This is a typical occurrence in every IT department all over the world, and not only in IT departments but in home computer situations too. A restore process can be as simple as making a copy of the backup file and pasting it wherever it belongs.

But in large operations a restore process can be much more involved depending on the volume of data needing to be recovered. This is so of the backup process as well. When data needs became 24/7 a whole new world of issues arose. Backup windows, that is windows of time that allowed backup to occur uninterrupted, became non-existent.

The need for continuous availability stressed the human resources as well as the technology resources and new "tricks" in the form of software, hardware and creative planning needed to be developed in order to create seamless backup and restore capability.

Backup and Restore Problems

There appear to be three major problems that crop up with 24/7 data demands. Those are the ever shrinking backup window, the need to backup all files even if they are open, and the use of more and more enterprise applications that cannot be stopped in order to backup but are vital in a restore situation. All of these issues stem from the creation of more and more data being created. We are now in data terabyte country and there does not appear to be an end to data creation anytime soon.

Data Backup and Restore is Complex

The high demand, the sheer volume, and the need to monitor and maintain 24/7 has created the need to backup and restore on demand. This is a huge undertaking and an enormous shift in the backup and restore arena. Tape has been utilized as the most reliable and solid of backup media but in all honesty it is a difficult and time-consuming media to use all the way around.

Tape requires a lot of man-hours to accomplish the task of locating and maintaining the tape for restore and then the time the actual backup and restore occurs in is much slower with tape than with a disk system. Down time has disappeared and shows no sign of ever returning and downtime is needed in many instances in order to backup and restore properly.

Backup and Restore Lessons

Every business has their lessons to learn with backup and restore processing. Each business has its own needs and own manner of planning for those needs. There are brick walls and the value of your data may create some of those brick walls. In some cases you may think you have figured out a new and creative way to solve your backup only to discover in the restore that you do not have what you need and you have lost data floating in the ethers.

Testing environments are excellent for working through new processes. Creating one that mimics your environment but is disconnected from the actual network can save you a great deal of grief and money. In the long run it's a clear case of clean backup and restore that will keep your business competing.