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With storage requirements moving into the tera-, peta- and exabyte ranges, companies need to refine their backup strategies to ensure availability of their growing data stores.

“Many data centers still perform backup operations the same they have for decades – and it does not work any more,” says Lauren Whitehouse, Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group, Milford, MA. “It is time to re-evaluate the capabilities and requirements, and reset expectations – just because a 4GB Oracle database could be recovered in three hours in 1987 doesn’t mean it can be today when the database is 4TB.”

Accordingly, Enterprise IT Planet interviewed several storage experts and gleaned the following tips for improving your own backup and restoration procedures.

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 with the recovery requirements,” says W. Curtis Preston, vice president of Framingham Mass. storage consultancy GlassHouse Technologies, Inc.

This means determining the Recovery Time Objective – how quickly the data needs to be restored – and Recovery Point Objective – how current the data must be – for each class of data and creating a plan that meets those requirements.

2. Save files to disk before migrating them to tape.

“Disk staging makes a huge difference, shrinking backup windows by as much as three quarters,” says Ramon Kagan, Manager of UNIX services at York University in Toronto. “We are able to do backups much faster from the server standpoint and then cycle it to tape during the day, saving people and servers a lot of time.”

3. Eliminate Excess – Do you need to store daily copies of a file that hasn’t changed in six months, or the personal copies of an email the CEO sent to all employees? Deduplicating files reduces the amount of storage needed and speeds backup times.

“We have commonly seen 20-to-1 capacity reduction using data de-duplication,” says Whitehouse.

4. Have backups stored outside the disaster impact zone. At a minimum, backup tapes should be stored off site. Better yet, all data is mirrored to a disaster recovery facility far enough away that it is still on line when the flood/hurricane/earthquake/blackout brings down the primary data center.

5. Track down and eliminate any network bottlenecks, which will slow down backup and restoration. This is particularly an issue with server virtualization, where multiple virtual servers are using the same network interface card and network connection.

“Make sure that you walk through the whole chain from client, to network, to server, to tape drive to ID bottlenecks,” says Preston. “You may be surprised to find that the bottleneck is Gb Ethernet to the tape drive. Tape drives are often too fast for the network interface.”

7. Use multiple layers of protection, where appropriate.

“Depending on the business value, time sensitivity, and critically of the data involved we apply different backup methods,” says Dan Funchion, senior manager of IT Infrastructure/Operations for SunGard Availability Services in Wayne, Penn. who is responsible for backing up or replicating 30TB of data daily. “In many cases we will implement multiple solutions for the same data sets (for example, remote replication combined with tape backup).”

8. Store a copy of the recovery plan with the backup data. Particularly when there is a major disaster, those who normally handle backup/restoration may not be available. Storing a copy of the plan with the tapes allows someone else to take the necessary steps.

9. Test the restoration process before it is needed, and test it on the actual equipment that will be used. This is particularly critical when you are planning on using a disaster recovery site that contains different servers or a different network architecture. When talking about a multitiered service, it doesn’t do any good to restore only one part. Or, if the application is used to looking for a piece of code or a file on a particular server in order to complete an operation, what will happen if it’s on a different server? So test the entire system, not just whether the files restore properly.

10. Set up routine file restoration as a help desk function. It doesn’t take a high level of expertise to restore someone’s accidentally deleted Word file.

“It is important to push as much of the restoration function to the help desk so storage professionals can work on improving levels of service,” says Robert L. Stevenson, Managing Director, Storage, for TheInfoPro, Inc. in New York City. “That will give you more flexibility to handle growth and address areas where there are inadequate backups.”

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It Doesn’t Take A Rocket Scientist

Good news/bad news: The Columbia disaster has brought renewed attention to spaceflight, but so far, much of that attention lacks any real clarity of understanding. Rather than train the spotlight on our space program’s fairly desperate need for both funding and vision, Columbia seems to have ushered in open season on NASA. Congressional hearings rehash hoary old debates about the value of our space program, chastizing the agency and calling for hastily conceived reforms. Many people with whom I’ve been privileged to work closely inside and around NASA share my concern that we may be on the verge of making irreversible decisions that future generations will regret. The Bush administration’s announcement of a redirection of the space program, which was pending at press time, may address some issues raised by the Columbia investigation, but it’s sure to miss some more fundamental problems, problems that are deep, structural and, if you believe in the value of space exploration, critical to our place in the 21st century.

In a decade of professional practice in large-scale urban, medical and institutional architecture, I have always started any new project with an investigation into institutional memory. I need to know how previous programs arrived at their final designs before I feel qualified to propose next-generation solutions. But almost immediately after I arrived at NASA in 1997, I learned that trying to gather such information in the 18,000-employee, 16-facility agency was tough going. The standard response when I requested data on old projects was a quizzical stare. As I began working on the design of the TransHab, an inflatable habitat for long crew expeditions like a Mars mission, I realized I needed solid dimensions for Skylab interiors and furnishings. Those drawings always seemed archived somewhere beyond reach. Eventually I just went over to the Skylab 1G Trainer at Space Center Houston’s visitor center with a tape measure and some gum-soled shoes. I’m sure it gave a few tourists a real thrill to come into the Trainer exhibit and find me dangling from the ceiling.

heart of the matter: As has been pointed out with regard to the Columbia disaster, there is within NASA a creeping lack of interest in real expertise. When any bureaucracy supports its mandarin culture over real intellectual capital–precisely what the board that investigated the Columbia disaster accused NASA of doing–it becomes stagnant rather than productive.

product are readily available.

But even these measures won’t fully address the squandering of hard-won expertise, because the problem isn’t confined to a failure of archiving. Any team that takes on a project is going to amass some truly valuable information. What happens then? At NASA, more often than not, project teams get disbanded and people with unique knowledge get poached away. Whereas other industries actively encourage the capture of knowledge in team environments–where the sum of knowledge is measurably greater than any individual effort–NASA seems unaware of the value of a stable, successful team and its ability to store, transmit, and use accumulated knowledge.

the feats that made NASA great. Finally earning their approval after three days of vigorous work felt like the greatest achievement of my life.

40 years of spaceflight, the results of thousands of failures large and small. As Charlie Feltz told us, “engineers learn by failures. We’ve had a lot of failures.”

Here’s an idea: Why don’t we borrow a pattern from design disciplines like architecture and industrial design, and develop “studios” populated by specialists from different fields–and when one project is done, try keeping the team together.

It’s not that NASA hasn’t taken first steps toward developing a meaningful shuttle replacement–it’s just that those steps invariably ended in a stumble. In the past three years, we’ve seen three separate programs proposed: the Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle (2GRLV), the Space Transportation Architecture Study (STAS) and the Space Launch Initiative (SLI). Each set forth overarching new strategies and architectures for human spaceflight that differed only slightly in scope. And each took a few toddling steps before the rug was pulled out. (Just three months before the Columbia accident, NASA diverted the SLI’s $4.5 billion budget to help cover the needs of the shuttle and International Space Station programs.)

Now NASA is pushing a new program dubbed the Orbital Space Plane, which is widely touted as the plan to replace the space shuttle. There is some confusion in this, since not one of the specifications of the Orbital Space Plane as currently envisioned could match the shuttle’s capacity for crew support, nor its sheer power as a high-tonnage launch system.

The inherited crew-transfer component had originally been conceived as one element of a broad, upgradable, long-term system, capable of carrying up to 10 passengers for full-up missions, and of active docking and orbital operations. As the OSP emerged last spring, it had fewer and fewer of those characteristics, until it became the pint-size version of a passive-crew-rescue vehicle envisioned today. A competition that was already under way–and from which several potential bidders had been eliminated–had been radically rescoped to meet immediate political goals within soaring budgetary shortfalls.

Why? Probably because there wasn’t enough vision or commitment behind the shuttle-replacement plans to begin with.

system and requested that the crew-transfer part of the program be fast-tracked; or, if that approach didn’t seem responsive enough to the needs of the day, the table should have been swept clean and the process started afresh with a new set of problems on the boards.

ideas by inviting competition and reopening the field of design solutions? Most likely cost savings and superior design.

Here is the recent history of shuttle-replacement systems in a nutshell: Propose and study a succession of systems, then fight to keep a single subcomponent going when the budget is slashed–without considering its long-term compatibility with the rest of the human spaceflight program. All these separate pieces somehow need to be made to fit the next wave of big-picture plans. And the Big Plan bogey keeps shifting–it’s anyone’s guess how the OSP will fit into the Bush Administration’s new space initiative. When the components’ utility in a new scenario is hard to prove, they get shot down–no matter how much effort has already gone into their development. They become ideas that go back on the shelf, only to get reinvented by future generations.

As many wise space pundits have said in recent times, NASA needs a challenge. Without a broad, external challenge backed up by consistent support and political will, it seems unlikely that the kind of heroic effort and vision that characterized the first decade and a half of NASA’s existence will re-emerge.

What these pundits are really bemoaning is the lack of consistent vision, which ultimately stems from an issue that is much larger and older than NASA, and whose nature is of profound interest to architects and master planners, because it has a powerful effect on the kind and scale of projects we may build. Simply put, undertaking what we call Great Projects–projects of a large, public scope whose completion will require 10 years or more–is very difficult in a democracy.

Under our democratic system, it is inherently impossible to ensure that any long-term program will receive funding, or remain consistently funded, from year to year. From this perspective, the four terms of FDR’s nearly unchallenged administration may well have been critical not only to the establishment of the Works Progress Administration but, more important, to the completion of many individual WPA projects.

Certainly in today’s politically polarized environment, a shift from a Democratic to a Republican administration (or vice versa) often portends the cancellation of many unfinished public projects–for example, the several major human spaceflight programs axed before the end of February 2001, less than a month after George W. Bush’s inauguration.

When budgets are cut, the public needs to be aware that this will result in the loss of valuable programs and personnel. But for those losses to matter to the American people, a truly inspiring vision for NASA must be articulated. And when politicians announce new NASA initiatives, whether to the Moon or Mars or beyond, the public must listen hard within the announcement for a coherent plan and a powerful commitment–including, of course, the funding–to deliver the mission itself and not just the idea of mission.

On this point, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board’s report is very clear: “It is the view of the Board that the previous attempts to develop a replacement vehicle for the aging Shuttle represent a failure of national leadership.”

NASA proved a long time ago that it can answer a profound and improbable challenge, as it did with the great Moon mission announced by President Kennedy in 1961. But it is not up to NASA to supply the vision itself. That falls to our leaders. If they do supply the vision, it’s a safe bet that a truly renewed NASA will do an extraordinary job of bringing it to fruition.

by NASA

Adams’s Critique

Adams first worked to improve the original proposals, rearranging certain elements to suit the crew. Here, she shows two potential seating arrangements meant to enhance socialization. Even these layouts, however, would be too cramped and awkward.

Pre-existing Design

A group of structural engineers had drawn up the initial designs before the architects got involved. There was no up or down in these plans–astronauts in different areas would be inverted relative to one another. Besides being disorienting for the crew, this design also constituted an inefficient use of the total volume.

Outsider In

Constance Adams stands before the Lunar Landscape section of Johnson Space Center’s Starship Gallery. “I am one of the people who live in the boundary world between the space ‘insiders’ and the general educated public,” she says.

by Brent Humphreys

Could A Robot Take My Marketing Job?

We ask three of our digital marketers how they feel about robots encroaching on their jobs

There has been lots of coverage recently on the BBC about how robots are taking over more and more jobs and that a staggering 33% of junior marketers are at risk of losing their jobs to robots in the next 20 years. Within marketing, we have the rise of Marketing Automation and Programmatic Marketing, so it’s not a hypothetical question. As an agency that is all for automation making our lives easier and freeing people up to do more strategic and creative activities which robots can’t complete just yet, we asked some of our employees what they thought of this.

Lee Wilson, Head of SEO

In the digital arena you work with big data and machines/robots all of the time. Machines have been taking on elements of the digital marketer’s role for a number of years and this needs to be embraced.

I have zero fear of a machine taking my job, but have great expectations of machines taking on much more of my role, and freeing me up even more to complete actions where a human is best placed and delivers most value from completing.

It is this collaborative approach to working with machines/robots which is the game changer for marketers and this should be happening already in most marketing departments (especially digital marketing). If it’s not, you probably are not anywhere near as efficient or effective as you could be.

“Historically, marketing experts have been (in many cases) reluctant data scientists. When companies embrace working with deep data platforms/machines/robots, this changes, and for the better.

Robots can and should remove or dramatically reduce:

Repeated time spent aggregating lots of shallow data points

Tasks being completed that can be automated or have a clear logic map to follow

Process-driven actions that have a recurring need and take time to complete

The second machine age is upon us and it’s time to start thinking ‘people plus machine’, rather than ‘people versus machine’.”

Steve Masters, Services Director

I was studying magazine journalism in the same year of the Wapping pickets – when Rupert Murdoch was moving his newspaper printing to modernised technology. When I started in publishing, we used typewriters to write on, red pen for editing, re-typing. Then we sent copy to typesetters, who would re-type it into a typesetting machine. After that, cut and paste specialists used glue and scalpels to cut up the text to paste on to layouts. Then we would edit again to make the text fit and typesetters would re-output the text for it to be re-pasted.

Technology is going to kill some jobs. But will it kill marketing careers? Not if we widen our skills, accept change and prepare for it. The most important thing to consider, though, is that AI will always be one step behind people. AI plus people is a powerful combination.

Tom Chapman, Content Specialist

If you’re regarding the development of AI with some concern, you’re certainly not the only one. After all, if the BBC’s report is accurate and 35% of jobs are at risk from being automated, there will be mass unemployment, unrest, and society – as well as our benefits system – will be unable to cope with this sudden change.

Fortunately, as marketers, we should be just fine. Machines cannot think creatively and are unable to form a viable campaign. They can provide us with the data to make informed decisions but otherwise will assist our work rather than take over it.

For example, at Vertical Leap, I use an AI called Apollo Insights to identify issues with client’s websites. This includes areas for improvement, content creation opportunities, as well as factors which really should be fixed. This makes my job easier and, as Apollo Insights is unable to complete the work itself, this means I’m still a necessary part of the campaign. However, this does not mean we should blindly accept the development of AI just because we’re ‘safe’.

As humanity, we have an obligation to ensure that those in ‘lesser’ professions are not completely replaced. As the development of AI is certainly unstoppable, legislation is needed to ensure that employers don’t put profit before the welfare of their workers. Some may call this viewpoint ‘anti-capitalist’ and throw accusations around stating that I’m getting in the way of progress – but regulations are needed to secure the following:

A skilled society Jobs and livelihoods

What’s to stop unscrupulous bosses from replacing their entire workforce with machines? In lower-skilled positions this is unfortunately a real possibility. Although business leaders would object, there must be a cap on computing power.

Profit and efficiency

Computers break – a lot. Furthermore, if machines start taking over jobs, it’s unlikely everyone will take this lying down. Therefore, corporate sabotage could become increasingly common. Humans are needed for when technology fails.

Technology is good – but only when it helps mankind

As stated, AI has the potential to really benefit our profession but to ensure that it benefits the whole of society, we need legislation and for it to be enforced by an independent body – hopefully all its workers will be human.

Conclusion

We should do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest.

Take A Peek At The Google Drive

The decription says, “… GDrive provides reliable storage for all of your files, including photos, music and documents … GDrive allows you to access your files from anywhere, anytime, and from any device — be it from your desktop, web browser or cellular phone.”

So not only may the Google Drive debut soon, it looks like Google is also venturing into music storage as well as photographs and documents. Bloggers the world over have been scouring Google’s servers and other corners of the Web in recent weeks to find definitive proof of the Google Drive. This discovery seems to confirm it. So what else is out there, and how did we get to where we are? Let’s take a look.

Google’s Picasa

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After this discovery, the mystery became even more interesting…

Google Throws a Bone

Adding more fuel to the fire, Gmail’s Product Manager Todd Jackson said this in an interview with CNET: “We know people’s file sizes are getting bigger. They want to share their files, keep them in the cloud, and not worry about which computer they’re on. Google wants to be solving these problems.”

Google Internal Document

Peering through the the digital universe, Google Blogoscoped’s Tony Ruscoe found a reference to what may have been an internal document from Google on chúng tôi a Website to upload and share documents. The document was called “GDrive on Cosmo Getting Started Guide.” Reportedly, the document suggested that the Google Drive will support both Mac and PC users and will integrate with other Google service like Docs, Picasa, and Gmail. Now when you check the page on Scribd you get a message saying, “This content was removed at the request of M. Homsi/Google.”

It’s unclear what Cosmo is, but it may be some sort of upgrade to Google Docs. There was also a mysterious reference to something called Amethyst, and a suggestion that the lower end of the GDrive limit could be around 10 GB.

CSS File and the first photo

Before long the Google Operating System blog found a reference to a “webdrive” in the Cascading Style Sheet for Google Apps. This led to the discovery of a tiny little icon on Google’s servers called “mini_webdrive.gif,” found here. Just like ol ‘Nessy’s first pic the photo is hard to see, and while there’s no doubt it’s a storage icon, it could be anything (including the Gdrive).

That brings us today’s discovery. Pundits are already wondering if the Google Drive will herald the long-awaited “cloud revolution” by taking all files off your hard drive and moving them into the ether so they are accessible anywhere.

Like anything else from Google, the GDrive is anticipated with a lot of exaggeration and predictions that it will revolutionize the web. If it is real, and free, the GDrive may be popular; however, something tells me we are still too mistrusting to allow all our files to disappear into the clouds. Maybe someday we’ll be ready, but not yet.

Developing A Good Backup And Restore Strategy For Windows

The world runs on Windows. More businesses run on the Windows platform than any others combined. Any Windows veteran can tell you that you’re going to run into problems that will require you to rebuild your PC at some point, and that is why having a backup is important. In this article we will talk about what you need to know to develop a good backup strategy and ensure your data is available when you need it.

Now, before we get going too far down the road, you probably want to first read about what Windows System Restore can and cannot do for your PC. System Restore is the precursor to the recovery process built into Windows 8.x and Windows 10. Understanding its beginnings may give your system recovery efforts a better chance at success.

Note: reducing worry and stress due to a dead or dying computer or hard drive is all about preparation. If you understand that you will surely need to rely on some sort of backup strategy and restore plan, then you’re halfway home.

Develop a Backup Strategy

How well you can restore your computer to its previous working state depends on how well you have backed up your data. In short, your backup strategy and its implementation is the key to restoring your data.

A good backup plan should consist of the following:

A local backup to ensure that if you do need to blow your computer away, you have a quick and easy way back to the way it was.

An offsite backup just in case your local backup gets corrupted, damaged or infected with malware, rendering it unusable.

Cloud synchronization because not only does it offer the quickest way to get your data back, it gives you access to your data on ANY Internet-enabled device.

Onsite Backup

This is usually a program that will back up your hard drive to a local, or onsite location. In Windows you can use Windows Backup to handle your backup program needs. Windows Backup has a setup wizard that will take you through defining where, when and how often you back up your data. It’s a set-it-and-forget-it option, and that’s the key to making not only this option work but every other option in your backup strategy. Set it up and let it handle things in the background.

There is also a multitude of third-party software that you can use to automate the backup. SyncToy is one useful tool created by Microsoft.

Other than your data, don’t forget to back up your registry, user profile, and drivers as well.

Offsite Backup

Offsite backup apps are very similar to onsite backup apps with two really big exceptions:

All of your backup data is stored offsite.

There’s a monthly charge for the service.

However, it’s something that you absolutely must consider putting in place, simply because fire, storms, hardware failure, or any number of other problems can happen, especially when you least expect it. Any of those could corrupt or destroy your local backup. When that happens and you want to restore your system to what it was before, having a second backup not effected by any local backup issues can help save your bacon.

The big issue you have to get past here is time. It takes time to complete your initial backup. In fact, depending on how much data you have to back up, the initial backup can take – literally – months to complete depending on how fast your Internet connection is. It’s also going to take time to download a restore point should you need it, BUT this backup copy is likely to be safe, uncorrupted and virus-free. It should also be encrypted for your safety.

Some of the candidates you can consider include:

CrashPlan offers a free plan that will back up all of your data, both locally and offsite, and includes a rolling thirty days of online backup. Paid options include one computer for as little as $5 per month (or $60 per year) or two to ten computers for $14 per month (or $150 per year).

BackBlaze includes a free trial to get you going. After that it is $5 a month or $50 a year to back up a single computer. Each additional computer is another $5 per month. Backblaze offers a way to locate missing computers should one get lost or stolen. They will even provide you with an external hard drive version of your backup for a price.

Carbonite offers a basic plan for $60 per year, a plus plan for $100 per year, and a prime plan for $150 per year. Carbonite offers a 30% discount for multi-year subscriptions.

All of the above offer unlimited backups (except where noted) and 256bit AES or better encryption.

Cloud Sync

Dropbox is the most popular choice here, though you can use Onedrive, Google Drive or any other cloud storage service out there. Most of them come with a desktop client where you can easily drop your files into the folder and have them synced to the cloud.

Restore Plan

Determining the best way to restore your computer to the way it was depends on the extent of the loss that occurred. Common considerations include the following.

Cloud Sync Restore

If you’re rebuilding and either aren’t worried about restoring your apps or have a separate plan for reinstalling them, reinstall your cloud sync app(s) and bring down all your data. This should be your first restore consideration, as it can get everything back to the way it was in a matter of minutes or hours.

Onsite Restore

One of the easiest ways to get all of your apps back is to perform a local restore. This will bring back all of your apps as well as all of your data, but depending on the size of the restore set, this could take quite a while longer than just bringing your data down from your cloud sync app. However, this is likely the easiest way of putting your computer back to exactly the way it was prior to the disaster that caused the need for the restore in the first place.

Offsite Restore

This is a restore of last resort. When you need more than just your data back and your onsite restore is corrupted or damaged, offsite restore can get your computer back to the way it was. Depending on the service you chose, you can get your hard drive back by downloading an image, or you may be able to have a hard drive sent to you by your backup service. These options will take more time to complete and/or will likely cost you some additional money. Look to these options only when all other options fail to produce the results you need.

Conclusion

Sometimes you just need to wipe your computer and start over. For this it is important for you to have a backup strategy and a restore plan. Cloud sync is the easiest way to back up just your data. It’s also the easiest and quickest way to get it back.

Onsite backups are a good way to bring back not only your data, but all of your apps and computer configuration as well. Setting this up to run in the background so you don’t have to think about it is the best way to get this accomplished.

Offsite backups are a key element to your backup and restore strategies and insure that you always have a copy of your important data, regardless of any local issues like floods, fire or just plain hardware or hard drive failure. Setting this up to run in the background is the best way to get this accomplished but will likely take weeks or months to download it all over the Internet.

Making your computer like it was isn’t hard, but it does require preparation … and redundancy.

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Different Types Of Backup Concentrate

Introduction to Backup Types

Web development, programming languages, Software testing & others

Several types of Backup

As mentioned above, the types of backup concentrate more on “how” to back up rather than “what” to backup. Therefore, let’s study various types of backup in detail.

1. Full backup

It is the most classical or conventional way of backing up the entire spectrum of data right from files, subfolders, folders at the system level or data files, redo logs, procedures, control files at the database level. The entire gamut of data will be backed up every time this full back up initiated.

Advantages

A full backup is preferred in small setups where the consumption of backup storage is not that high.

It is Easy and simple to manage full backups.

Restoration is also easy and quick since it follows a straight and simple process.

The latest media is sufficient to restore full backups

It’s a slow and time-consuming process

Consumption of storage space is quite high and results in a lot of duplication of data.

System availability may be an issue to take frequent full backups.

2. Differential backup

This system involves backing up delta changes between the earlier full backup and current differential backup. Each time this backup is fired, the same process is repeated, which essentially means that files backed up in the earlier differential run in the cycle are also backed up, resulting in duplicates to some extent. Therefore, full backup media and the latest differential media are required to fully restore the system.

Advantages

It takes lower storage media when compared to full backup

It is faster as it backs up only delta changes between earlier full backup and now

More frequent backups can be planned since it involves the lower volume of data to be backed up

Restoration is still faster when compared to incremental backup since it involves handling full backup media and the latest differential backup media.

When compared to incremental backup

It takes more storage space as it contains duplicates backed up in the earlier backups in the cycle.

Backing up is also slower since it handles a larger volume

When compared to full backup

Restoration is a little complicated as it had to use full backup and one more media.

The restoration takes more time for the above reason.

3. Incremental Backup

As in differential backup, a backup cycle starts with full backup and continues with multiple incremental backups. This system involves backing up incremental data created between the last backup and the current backup. For the first incremental backup, the last run is the full backup.

It isn’t easy this process through manual operation, and it is ideally managed through a vendor supplier tool or third party software.

Advantages

It consumes the lowest storage media spaces because the volume of data to be backed up is low, and there are no duplicates in the data to be backed up.

Time taken for backup is also low due to the same above reason.

Many frequent backups can be planned, say daily, twice daily.

This system is used in database applications.

Restoration of data is very cumbersome as it involves full backup media and the subsequent incremental backups in the current cycle.

Restoration is also slower due to the above reason.

4. Mirror Backup Application Backup (Business Continuity Planning) Onsite model

In this set-up, a copy of the source application platform (primary) is maintained on a different floor or building in the same location as secondary. An initial full copy of the primary application is installed at the secondary site, and further changes in the primary are updated in the secondary site in synchronous mode by the application. Thus, it protects primary applications from any disaster due to hardware failures, corruption of databases, software failure, and other internal failures.

In case of any disaster, the application can be switched over to a secondary site without losing much time, and business continuity can be ensured. Moreover, the primary system can be rectified later and restored. However, it does not cover other disasters like power break down or natural furies like floods, earthquakes, and cyclones, affecting primary/secondary sites.

Offsite model

In this model, the secondary site is maintained at an offsite location, and it is automatically updated at a frequent interval in an asynchronous mode. Therefore, it protects the primary site from natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, cyclones, political disturbances, etc.; the only issue in this model is primary and secondary sites should be interconnected with a high bandwidth network.

Cloud backup

It is a highly contemporary setup in which the backup of the data is done in the cloud, and the application can be switched over to the cloud if there is any disaster. Many cloud service providers offer this service, and it will result in cost savings if used prudently.

Conclusion

With so many options available for backing up their data, businesses will have to choose that method that suits their data strategy and budget and maintains business continuity.