W
ithstoragerequirementsmovingintothetera-,peta-andexabyteranges,companiesneedtorefinetheirbackupstrategiestoensureavailabilityoftheirgrowingdatastores.“Many data centers still performbackup operations the same theyhave for decades – and it doesnot work any more,” says LaurenWhitehouse, an analyst atEnterprise Strategy Group. “It istime to re-evaluate the capabili-ties and requirements, and resetexpectations – just because a4GB Oracle database could berecovered in three hours in 1987doesn't mean it can be todaywhen the database is 4TB.”Accordingly, Enterprise IT Planetinterviewed several storageexperts and gleaned the follow-ing tips for improving your ownbackup and restoration proce-dures.
1. Plan in Reverse.
figure out what needs to be restored, and how fast,and then devise an appropriate backup plan.“What people should do, but often don't, is start withthe recovery requirements,” says W. Curtis Preston, vicepresident of Framingham, Mass., storage consultancyGlassHouse Technologies, Inc.This means determining theRecovery Time Objective (howquickly the data needs to berestored) and Recovery PointObjective (how current the datamust be) for each class of dataand creating a plan that meetsthose requirements.
2. Save files to disk beforemigrating them to tape.
“Disk staging makes a huge dif-ference, shrinking backup win-dows by as much as three quar-ters,” says Ramon Kagan, manag-er of UNIX services at YorkUniversity in Toronto. “We areable to do backups much fasterfrom the server standpoint andthen cycle it to tape during theday, saving people and servers a lot of time.”
3. Eliminate excess.
Do you need to store daily copies of a file that hasn't
2
Developing a Storage Backup Strategy, an Internet.com Storage eBook. © 2008, Jupitermedia Corp.
Developing a Storage Backup Strategy
[ ]
Don’t Let Backup Take a Backseat
By Drew Robb
Many data centers still perform backup operations the same they havefor decades – and it does not work any more
“”
Jupiterimages
Leave a Comment
This is a great report, however you failed to write about the importance of online backup services as they can offer a lot more faster dynamic backup opportunties for entreprenuers and web workers who work off coffee shops and laptops http://www.onlinebackupservicesnow.com