Throw the tapes away - disk backup is here

Data backup can be a nightmare, balancing the demands for instant access against the equally important need for security and reliance. Essentially there are Business Continuity demands that are competing with the requirement to be able to perform a Disaster Recovery.

The same people that patted you on the back because they could get their files back quickly from an online storage system might be the first in the queue to stick a metaphorical knife between your shoulder blades when the disk based backup system is off with the data recovery company, and you don’t have a good old fashioned solid and reliable tape backup.

So are tape backup systems better than disk based virtualized backup systems, do on-line backup systems trump all others? What is best?

Each technology has its exponents and its detractors. “It takes too long to restore from the tapes” is a common complaint and so there is often a tendency to have the demand from the consumer leading the processes that end up in place, rather than having a full risk and impact assessment to determine the best mechanism for securing data. Let’s start with the risks.

Accidental deletion of data.

Quite an easy one this, best dealt with by a nice convenient on-line or near-line system. Going back to the archive for instances of deleted files is fine, but when there is a large IT overhead in a business it can be costly and take too long.

For some companies on-line backup provides this facility and is especially helpful when there are large numbers of data users out of the offices with their laptops.

NB I will temper this assertion with the fact that in companies with whom we deal when money gets factored into the equation, and there is going to be a cost to the department from whence the data request came, it is quite amusing how many “vital-critical-essential” files actually can be done without.

System Failure

This can be either when the RAID crashes, or something else goes wrong with the system where the data is housed.

If the data in question is critical on-line data, or even communication related data such as email, then getting up and running quickly is key, so having an on-line or failover based backup system is the best course of action.

Environmental failure

Fire and flood, or some other factors, can both destroy systems or deprive us of access to them at just the wrong moment. Having off-site backups or duplicated environments is essential if you want to guard against this.

So where does traditional backup come into play?

Well it can sit quite happily behind all of the above.

Having a main system and a duplicate system off-site might usually be alright, but there have been many instances of multiple failures, or data problems being duplicated across to the mirrored system.

On-line backup is convenient, but can you trust where the data is going, is it secure, and who is backing it up? I have previously received DLTs full of data for a tape data recovery from an on-line backup vendor who had not quite gotten their priorities worked out.

What about historical data when the regulator wants to see what you were up to 3 years ago? How far can your disk based system be wound back?

Traditional backup will never be as “sexy” or as convenient as some of the on-line and virtual “solutions” that are currently on the market. What it does give is a solid and reliable means of freezing a copy of data in a form that will last, can be seen to be accurate for compliance and governance purposes, and in a way that is isolated and so protected from many of the problems that other systems might have.

Tape does not provide a better means of protecting your data and hence your business, but when used in conjunction with the other available technologies in a D2D2T tiered environment, it might just save your skin.

Related Posts:

• October 20, 2008 -- Catch-22, or “don’t keep the only copy of the software on the tape” (0)
• October 18, 2008 -- The long and winding DLT (1)
• September 23, 2008 -- Do you need to use a professional data recovery service? (0)
• September 23, 2008 -- Once you are in a hole it is time to stop digging (0)
• September 23, 2008 -- Tape Recovery (0)
• September 23, 2008 -- Data Recovery Services (0)
• September 23, 2008 -- Services (0)
• November 21, 2008 -- DLT tape recovery - can data be recovered after an overwrite? (0)
• November 18, 2008 -- Cloud Cuckoo Land? (0)
• October 23, 2008 -- Who Said Tape Was Not Reliable? (0)