An Introduction to Tape Backup

If you run a small business, chances are you're saving important files to a server. But what happens when disaster strikes? How are you ensuring that your files won't be lost? Many people fail to realize that the loss of files could cripple their business. You can insure your office and equipment, but you can't insure files. You can't repair or buy back lost files. Ipso facto, they are lost!

This brings us to the concept of disaster recovery. What is disaster recovery? If you're thinking that disaster recovery is about frantically trying to get back data that's already been lost, then you're already behind the 8-ball! Disaster recovery is about safeguarding your organization's data so that it can be safely restored in event of a crippling disaster. And having an industry-standard file backup strategy is undoubtedly the most important part of disaster recovery.

What you have to do is ensure that all files on the server are backed up to another storage medium -- tape, removable hard disk, NAS device, and so on. Most businesses choose to use tape. Let's look at how you can set up a tape backup strategy for your own business.

1. Tape -- the perfect backup medium

Isn't tape an anachronism in the age of optical disks, removable hard drives and a plethora of whiz-bang, random-access storage media? Tape is indeed a dinosaur in relative terms, but it's ideal for backup. Tape is slow, but can store a lot of data... one mid-range tape should be enough to backup your entire server. Plus, tape is extremely cheap -- mid-range tapes cost around $20 each.

2. When should you backup?

Typically, tape backup is performed at the end of each day. Just put in the tape and let the backup process run overnight. If your server ever suffers a catastrophic disaster, you have at least saved all your files from the previous day.

3. Tape Rotation

The ideal tape backup solution would involve using a new tape for each backup. This means purchasing a new tape for every day of your business's operations. This is hardly cost-effective for your business. Tape is cheap, but not that cheap!

This is why we speak of tape rotation. Tape rotation means to reuse tapes from previous backups. The simplest tape rotation scheme is to have one tape for each day of the working week. Tapes are labelled Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

You can restore data from any one of the tapes in your library, or in this case, any day in the past the week. This strategy requires only five tapes, but only provides one week's data backup history.

4. Grandfather-Father-Son -- A Case Study

The grandfather-father-son schedule is the most widely used method, and involves backing up data in the following way:

* daily -- on the "son tapes"

* weekly -- on the "father tapes"

* monthly -- on the "grandfather tapes"

This system is far more powerful than the five-tape rotation, but requires more tapes.

This strategy provides you with the ability to restore data from the last week, plus any Monday over the last month, plus any month for as many monthly tapes as you have. Variations on this scheme are available, and provide a trade-off between the number of tapes required, and the number of monthly tapes available.

5. Different types of backup

Different types of backups are available in backup software.

* Full -- all files, system data

* Differential -- all files added or changed since the last full backup

* Incremental -- all files added or changed since the last full, differential or incremental backup

* Daily -- all files added or changed on the day of the backup

A Full backup will copy all files and system data to the backup media. It allows for the complete restore of all data from one single tape.

Differential, Incremental and Daily are partial backups are designed to reduce amount of data backed-up to the media, resulting in faster backups. To restore data using one of these backups, the last Full backup tape will also be required, along with any other partial backups since the last Full backup.

6. Tape backup software

At this point you may be thinking that performing tape backup is a complex task. Tape rotations, incremental backups... sure, you can try to do this manually, but this would make the backup process hiddeously difficult and prone to human error! The solution is to invest in a good piece of server backup software that will manage and schedule your tape backups for you.

What should you look for in tape backup software? For many small business owners, the price is crucial. Many brands of backup software are just too expensive -- in the $1000+ range -- and contain features that you'll never need. Look for a backup utility that's designed specially for small business instead. It should be simple-to-use, reliable and affordable. Choose a good tape backup software and you'll be well on your way to safeguarding your files and data.

Linus Chang is a backup expert and the lead developer of BackupAssist-- backup software that is simple and affordable, and perfect for small and medium businesses. Protect your Windows servers, including SQL Server and Exchange Server, to tape, REV drive, hard drive, NAS and more, at a fraction of the cost of other backup programs. Designed as a fix for NTBackup bugs and issues.

Backup Tips And Strategies For Artists

A backup, in computer lingo, refers to making a copy of

important data for the purpose of data recovery. Should

the important data get damaged or lost, a properly made

backup will restore it all. The word "data" refers to

anything stored on a computer system: images, programs,

document, videos, etc. Taking backups of important data

can prevent loss of valuable work and the time needed

to recreate it.

In this article we'll take a look at common backup types

and strategies, data compression, and common backup media

types. A real life backup scenario will illustrate my

own backup procedures. The article will end with general

backup tips.

COMMON BACKUP TYPES

The best backup methods rely on simple and time proven

concepts. New or unnecessary technologies are best

avoided till proven reliable and necessary. The simpler

the procedure, the more likely it is to work correctly.

A full-backup consist of making a copy of all important

data. When you copy a folder with important files,

from say a hard drive to a floppy, you actually make

a full-backup of those files. Due to simplicity,

this approach is the most reliable of all backup

types. Its main advantage is ease of backup creation

and restoration. The main disadvantage is that the

backup will use as much space as the important data. If

the data is large, the backup process can be very

resource intensive in terms of time and the processing

power needed to carry out. Imagine the time needed to

full-backup a digital library consisting of millions of

books. Such operation takes days.

An incremental-backup works differently in that it backs

up only the modified files since the last backup. When

using this method, a full backup is created first and

then incremental backups are run on regular basis. For

large amounts of data this method is often the only

practical way to backup. It takes up less space than a

full backup and is less resource intensive to run. On

the other hand, contrary to full backups, incremental

backups need dedicated backup software to keep track of

what files to backup.

Compressing the backup data is a popular option. Such

practice lowers the amount of space needed on the backup

media. Although compression adds an additional layer

of complexity, it can be a good (if relied on wisely)

and sometimes necessary solution.

ESSENTIAL BACKUP STRATEGIES

Regardless of the backup type and data, the following

backup strategies should always be followed:

backup should be taken on a regular basis
backup should be automatic and need as little human supervision as possible
backup should be stored in a safe remote location
backup should rely on well established hardware and software technologies

Backup should be taken on a regular basis. The more

frequently the data changes the more often it should

be backed-up. For example, some of my most frequently

updated files (website files, source code, notes,

etc.) are backed-up daily. Files that are less

frequently updated are backed-up monthly.

Backup should be automatic. Except for the initial

configuration of the backup program and the occasional

supervision, the whole backup process should be automatic

and completely transparent. That is, the backup should

run by itself without causing any attention unless

necessary.

Backup should be stored in a safe remote location. Should

the location of the important data get damaged,

destroyed, or exposed to theft - a remotely stored backup

becomes invaluable. How remote? Disasters like fire,

flood, tornado, earthquake, etc., can cause widespread

damage. Ideally a backup should be stored in a far away

enough, minimal risk location.

Backup should rely on well established hardware and

software technologies. Such technologies are typically in

widespread use - thus cheaper and easier to troubleshoot,

or get help in the event of failure. As established

technologies become gradually replaced by new and

better ones, so should the backup media and hardware

and, if used, the software to re/store the data. There

is no guarantee that the common backup media of today,

like CD or DVD, will be usable in ten years. The same

is true for software. A good data preservation strategy

should include continual migration of the backup data

to mature and well established technologies of the time.

A BIT ABOUT DATA COMPRESSION

Compression makes data smaller and thus is a popular

backup option. Its main advantage is lower backup

cost due to lower space use. The downside is the time

needed to compress the data and later to uncompress it

for restoration.

Many compression formats exist. Each format use some

sort of compression method called an algorithm. There

are two types of data compression algorithms: "lossy"

and "lossless". Lossless compression reduce the data

size without modifying its content. Lossy compression

modify the data content to make it even smaller than

lossless compression.

Some compression formats, like MP3 or JPG, are highly

specialized. They use lossy algorithms and produce very

small file sizes but can only compress a particular

type of data. Other formats, like ZIP or BZIP2, are

of general purpose. They rely on lossless compression

algorithms and can work on any data. However, they will

never outdo special purpose formats like MP3 or JPG.

PNG and TIFF are popular image file formats which support

lossless compression.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of lossy compression,

JPG, MP3 or any other lossy format degrade the original

data to some extent. In other words, saving an image or

music in a lossy file format will make it different then

the original. Usually the difference, called compression

artifacts, is so small that most of us don't see or

hear it.

For the above reasons, lossy compression should never

be used when saving important data. Only lossless

compression is suitable for that. PNG and TIFF are

examples of image file formats that support lossless

compression. Such formats are ideal for storing

hi-resolution master images.

Finally, compression takes time and normally uses all

available processing power. Generally, the better the

compression the slower it is. Some compression algorithms

are extremely good at compressing but also extremely

slow. For backup purposes, one should evaluate common

compression formats and set for the most suitable one.

CONSIDER YOUR NEEDS

Some additional issues need to be considered when

designing the most suitable backup strategy for own use:

the type of backup files
if compression is desired, what compression to use and how
backup storage media

As noted earlier the best backups are simply copies of

important data. Such approach works especially well for

artists who rely on compressed image formats like PNG

or TIFF.

Note the difference between "built-in" image compression,

done every time you save an image in a format that

supports it, and compressing the backup data - applied

to all backup data regardless of what it is.

What backup compression to use, and if to use it at all,

depends on the type of backup data. Generally,

text files (TXT, HTML, XML, etc) can be compressed

the most of all file types. Images that have been

compressed with their own algorithms (PNG, JPG, TIFF,

etc) can't later be compressed much if at all. Images

which don't have own compression (BMP, TGA, etc) can

often be compressed quite a bit, though this depends on

the actual image data.

Thus if most of your important art data consist of

images that are already compressed, there is no need to

compress the backup. Text files on the other hand, can

be compressed a lot and save significant amount of space.

There are a few other things to consider when compressing

backup data. What compression program to use and how

to compress the files.

ZIP is the most commonly used compression format today -

it's fast and compresses well. It's been around for a

long time and is universally available. But there are

other, less known, good alternatives. For example,

7ZIP, RAR, and BZIP2 compress significantly better than

ZIP and are only slightly slower.

Finally, how to compress backups. Basically one can

either create a compressed archive of many files, or

compress each file individually. The main disadvantage

to creating a compressed archive is the possibility

of losing all files in the archive if the archive

gets corrupted and can not be recovered. On the

other hand, if files are compressed individually one

looses only one file - should it get corrupted and be

unrecoverable. Additionally, since a compressed file

use less space than uncompressed, it's less likely to

get corrupted. Thus it's more safe to compress files

individually.

WHICH BACKUP MEDIA TO USE

The commonly used backup media today are hard drives,

tapes and CDs/DVDs. Hard drives are the fastest and

often the best option for large amounts of data. They are

also the most expensive and not very durable. Tapes are

slow but can store a lot of data and can last decades.

CDs/DVDs are probably the most common backup media used

today due to its very low cost. Unfortunately, just

like hard drives, most have a relatively short expected

life span of between two to five years. Internet backup

solutions are also becoming a popular backup option.

Reliability is important to consider when choosing the

backup media. How robust is the media and for how long

can it retain the data? The quality of the media plays

a significant role here. All media degrade over time,

but some degrade more than other. Most of the low cost

burnable CDs have a life span of around two years. Higher

quality CDs can last up to five. Very high quality

CDs with a gold layer are expected to last decades.

Generally, if the handling and storage conditions

are good, quality media should last at least few years

without data loss. However, unless the best quality media

is used, an annual full backup is probably the safest

prevention against data loss due to media degradation.

A combination of different media may often be the ideal

solution. For example, some of my own backup practices

include using an external hard drive to mirror (update)

certain parts of my computer hard drives. Twice a year

I burn all important data on several DVDs.

I recommend spending some time investigating the most

suitable media and the hardware to operate it. High

quality products will minimize the possibility of

backup failure.

THE NECESSITY OF VERIFYING BACKUPS

The most important aspect of taking backups is making

sure they are error free. The backup data may prove

useless if corrupted due to media or other error.

It's good practice to immediately test the backup for

its validity. Errors will be detected and a new backup

can be taken right away. Any respectable backup program

provides an option for data verification. What good is

a backup if its data is corrupted?

A REAL LIFE BACKUP SCENARIO

My most valuable data is my art data, website files,

source code, and various docs. All my hi-resolution work

is stored in either PNG or TIFF. Nearly all my reference

images are JPGs. Thus all my image data can be backed

up without the use of compression and save huge amounts

of backup time and space. I do compress 3d files which

don't use own compression. For that I use bzip2 with the

maximum compression setting. All the remaining data are

basically text files and are compressed individually

using either bzip2 or 7zip. Images and 3d files, even

compressed, can be huge in size. Not surprisingly over

90% of my backup space is used on art data.

I backup daily, monthly and twice a year. Once a day,

the files which are frequently updated (notes, work

in progress images, source code, website files, email,

etc.) are backed up to another hard drive. This happens

during the boot process and takes a few minutes. Once

a month I backup to a CD which also includes less

frequently updated files. A copy of that CD is stored

in a remote location. Twice a year I take full backup

and store it on several DVDs at a friends house. If I

work on something especially important, I store it daily

on a CD/DVD or a USB mem-stick. My most critical data

is also regularly encrypted and stored on a very remote

internet host. I wrote a script to run all these backups

automatically. With the exception of CD/DVD storage,

no manual work is involved.

As you can see, a custom backup solution can be quite

sophisticated yet simple to carry out. It can involve

a combination of different media and backup procedures

to optimally satisfy ones needs.

FINAL NOTES

Depending on your needs a dedicated backup software may

be a necessary investment. Make sure to research this

carefully. Usually, products from reputable companies

that specialize in certain solutions are best. There are

also many good open source or free software alternatives.

It's best to avoid products which rely on proprietary

or closed solutions. For example, a backup software

may store the backup data in an unknown format only

supported by this particular backup software. Avoid

that. If the company goes out of business and the

backup software breaks, your backup data may be lost

forever. Look for products that rely on well known,

mature, and ideally open technologies. For example,

PNG is an open format for storing image data. What this

means is that the specification, or blueprint, for that

format is publicly available for anyone to use it. This

increases compatibility and reduces reliance on any

specific vendor or product.

Most artists important data consists mainly of images

and 3d files. To save space rely on PNG, TIFF or JPG

for bitmap image formats. Vector images and 3d files

can be compressed individually if needed. A basic

backup software that simply copies specified files

or directories to the backup media may be all that

is needed. It's best to make two sets of the backup

data and store each at different location. One close

to home, like a friends place, or a bank box and the

other far away.

Setting up a proper backup strategy may initially require

a significant amount of time and cost money. There is

a lot to research and consider. In the end however,

a good backup procedure will prove an exceptionally

valuable investment. As you read this, your screen could

go blank due to a hard drive crash. All your valuable

data - years of work, reference images, documents,

photo albums, 3d files, email, etc., - could be lost

forever. Unless you were prepared and took a backup.

Dawid Michalczyk is a freelance illustrator and an artist. He has been creating computer graphics since the early 90s. To see examples of his work and other writings visit his website at http://www.art.eonworks.com. He can be reached at dm@eonworks.com

Backup Software- Don't Buy It!

Computer Backup- Forget About It!

Backup Software is for the birds! Computer Backup is too hard, too much trouble and a pain in the butt. Let's just forget about it.

Backup Software is touted as the savior of your computer's critical business and personal files. They claim that all computer hard drives (where our files are stored) eventually will have a 100% failure rate. They try to tell us that the failure of our hard drives is just a matter of WHEN, not IF.

Do your backups they shout!

Poppycock!

BACKUP SOFTWARE- LET'S GET REAL

You and I know the real story. The real story is that new computers are so well made that they almost never fail, right?

Therefore, we don't need to worry about buying backup software and setting up a computer backup system, do we? It would just be a waste time-- for sure!

After all we know that all the press about hard drive failures, natural disasters and terrorist attacks is just a conspiracy by the backup software companies to get us to buy their products.

Personally I never had a hard drive failure (that I recall). If my computer stops working for whatever reason, that's life.

Therefore, I ignore these software backup companies that try to push their backup software products on the unsuspecting public even though they make data and file restorations easy. I don't give them the time of day.

Therefore as you see, I don't need backup software, do you? Of course not.

BACKUP SOFTWARE- STARTING OVER WITHOUT IT IS EASY

In the unlikely event that I got a virus or a bunch of spyware on my computers I'll just bite the bullet and move on. After all, if I lost all my data to a virus, then so what? Who needs backup software?

Heck, I'd just buy a new computer and begin again and I'd still wouldn't need backup software because it's just too much hassle.

If ALL my business data was lost due to a hard drive crash or virus corruption then I'd just start my business over. No big deal. It's not that hard, right? Using backup software is just a pain.

BACKUP SOFTWARE FOOLISHNESS

So by now we're all agreed that using backup software for computer backup is just for the foolish, right? Right.

Who would want to use backup software that automatically and easily backs up EVERYTHING on your computer hard drive to a DVD Rewriteable disk or USB external hard drive? That would mean you could easily recover from any computer disaster. That makes too much sense and is far too logical.

They claim that backup software is a virtual computer insurance policy against fire, flood, theft, earthquake, hurricanes, tornados and terrorist attacks.

Balderdash!

Ridiculous.

Hey, the businesses who survived Hurricane Katrina didn't need backup software did they? OK, OK I admit a lot of businesses without backup software and off site backup lost EVERYTHING and now they cannot recover their data and reconstitute their business. But that's life. Now these businesses and their employees can now move on to something new. How exciting!

Look, life without backup software is just so much more interesting.

By the way, did I tell you how much I enjoy playing Russian Roulette?

Did I neglect to mention my brief stay (it was really was only a few days) at the mental hospital? Ahh, that's ancient history. Let's get back to the present.

BACKUP SOFTWARE- THE PRESENT DAY

Want to hear something silly? My friend Ben down in New Orleans owned an insurance company. It made a very good living for him and his family. He didn't believe in backup software either. All his computers were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Ben just laughed and said, "No problem, this disaster gives me the chance to write the Great American Novel that I've always dreamed of writing".

What about his 10 employees and his thousands of customers he was asked? Ben said, "Heck, things always work out for the best don't they?"

What about the income from the business that supported his family he was asked? Ben said, "Oh, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) told me they would take care of us and not to worry."

See, Ben is all set and is none the worse for wear even though he didn't have backup software.

BACKUP SOFTWARE LESSONS

So boys and girls what have we learned about this backup software thing?

* If we don't have backup software, so what, it just makes life after a hard drive crash more interesting and fun.

* After a natural disaster that destroys your computers, FEMA will make it OK.

* All the hubbub about backup software is just a bunch of advertising hype to sell product.

* Just because you like to play Russian Roulette, you aren't really crazy.

FINALLY- BACKUP SOFTWARE FOLLYIES

I know another guy, Carl Jordan, who is crazier than I am. Carl and the rest of the loonies at Tweak All Consultants (www.tweakspeed.com) actually believe backup software can save your bacon.

In my own strange way I try to be fair and balanced. Therefore

if you disagree with me check out Carl's review of backup software at Backup Software

Now, where's my medication? My meds really smooth me out. They also help me forget about rational things like computer backup and backup software.

Jack Back has been in the computer business since 1983 as an IT executive and working computer consultant company owner. He has helped many clients after a computer crash who had no computer backup. Hurry to get your FREE REVIEW of backup software that saves your irreplaceable computer data from loss, damage or destruction at the Backup Software website.

Planning A Backup And Restoration Of Files For Disaster Recovery

The Backup utility creates a copy of data on a hard disk of a computer and archives data on another storage media. Any storage media such as removable disks, tapes, and logical drives can be used as a backup storage.

While taking a backup of files, the Backup utility creates a volume shadow copy of the data to create an accurate copy of the contents. It includes any open files or files that are being used by the system. Users can continue to access the system while the Backup utility is running without the risk of losing data.

Volume Shadow Copy

Backup provides a feature of taking a backup of files that are opened by a user or system. This feature is known as volume shadow copy. Volume shadow copy makes a duplicate copy of all files at the start of the backup process. In this way, files that have changed during the backup process are copied correctly. Due to this feature, applications can continue writing data to the volume during a backup operation, and backups can be scheduled at any time without locking out users.

Types of Backups

The Windows Backup utility provides various types of backups. While planning for a backup strategy, it is important to choose an appropriate type or combination of different types of backups. The backup type determines which files are transferred to the destination media.

Each backup type relates to an attribute maintained by every file known as archive (A). The archive attribute is set when a file is created or changed. When an archive attribute is set, it means that the backup of this file has not been taken or it is due.

Note: When it is said that "The file is marked as backup", it means that the archive attribute of the file has been cleared.

Normal Backups

When an administrator chooses to use a normal backup, all selected files and folders are backed up and the archive attribute of all files are cleared. A normal backup does not use the archive attribute to determine which files to back up. A normal backup is used as the first step of any backup plan. It is used with the combination of other backup types for planning a backup strategy of an organization. Normal backups are the most time-consuming and are resource hungry. Restoration from a normal backup is more efficient than other types of backups.

Incremental Backups

An incremental backup backs up files that are created or changed since the last normal or incremental backup. It takes the backup of files of which the archive attribute is set. After taking a backup, it clears the archive attribute of files. An incremental backup is the fastest backup process. Restoring data from an incremental backup requires the last normal backup and all subsequent incremental backups. Incremental backups must be restored in the same order as they were created.

Note: If any media in the incremental backup set is damaged or data becomes corrupt, the data backed up after corruption cannot be restored.

Differential Backups

Differential backup backs up files that are created or changed since the last normal backup. It does not clear the archive attribute of files after taking a backup. The restoration of files from a differential backup is more efficient than an incremental backup.

Copy Backups

A copy backup copies all selected files and folders. It neither uses nor clears the archive attribute of the files. It is generally not a part of a planned scheduled backup.

Daily Backups

A daily backup backs up all selected files and folders that have changed during the day. It backs up data by using the modified date of the files. It neither uses nor clears the archive attribute of the files.

Combining backup types

The easiest backup plan is to take a normal backup every night. A normal backup every night ensures that the data is restored from a single job the next day. Although the restoration of data from a normal backup is easy, taking a backup is time consuming. Hence, an administrator is required to make an optimal backup plan. An administrator must consider the following points before creating a backup plan:

·The time involved in taking the backup.

·The size of the backup job.

·The time required to restore a system in the event of a system failure.

The most common solutions for the needs of different organizations include the combination of normal, differential, and incremental backups.

Combination of Normal and Differential Backups

An administrator can use a combination of a normal backup and a differential backup to save time in taking a backup as well as for a restoration of data. In this plan, a normal backup can be taken on Sunday, and differential backups can be taken on Monday through Friday every night. If data becomes corrupt at any time, only a normal and last differential backup are required to be restored. Although this combination is easier and takes lesser time for restoration, it takes more time to take backup if data changes frequently.

Combination of Normal and Incremental Backups

A combination of normal and incremental backups can be used to save more time for taking backups. In this plan, a normal backup is taken on Sunday and incremental backups on Monday through Friday every night. If data becomes corrupt at any time, a normal and all incremental backups till date are required to be restored.

Backing up a System State Data

System State Data

System State data contains critical elements of the Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 operating systems. Following are the files included in the System State data:

·Boot files, including the system files and all files protected by Windows File Protection (WFP)

·Active Directory (on domain controller only)

·SYSVOL (on domain controller only)

·Certificate Services (on certification authority only)

·Cluster database (on cluster node only)

·Registry

·IIS metabase

·Performance counter configuration information

·Component Services Class registration database

For backing up the System State of a computer, the System State node is included as a part of the backup selection in the Backup utility.

Note: On domain controllers, System State can be restored only by restarting the domain controller in Directory Services Restore Mode. NTDSUTIL is used to recover deleted objects in Active Directory.

System Recovery

In the event of a system failure, the recovery of the system is difficult and tedious for administrators. Recovery involves reinstallation of the operating system, mounting and cataloging the backup tape, and then performing the full restore. To make this process easier, Windows provides a feature called Automated System Recovery (ASR). ASR is used to perform a restore of the System State data and services in the event of a major system failure. An ASR restore includes the configuration information for devices. ASR backs up the system data and local system partition.

How to create an ASR set?

Take the following steps to create an Automated System Recovery (ASR) set by using the Backup or Restore Wizard:

1.Run Backup from Start Menu > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Backup.

2.In the welcome screen of the Backup or Restore Wizard, click the Advanced Mode link.

3.On the welcome page of the Advanced Mode of the Backup utility, choose the ASR Wizard option from the Tools menu.

4.In the welcome screen of the ASR Wizard, click the Next button.

5.On the Backup Destination page, specify the location of the backup, and click the Next button.

6.Click the Finish button.

Note: An ASR backup does not include folders and files.

Best practices for Backup

According to Microsoft, administrators should take the following steps to ensure the recovery in case of a system failure:

·Develop backup and restore strategies and test them.

·Train appropriate personnel.

·In a high-security network, ensure that only administrators are able to restore files.

·Back up all data on the system and boot volumes and the System State.

·Back up the data on all volumes and the System State data at the same time.

·Create an Automated System Recovery backup set.

·Create a backup log.

·Keep at least three copies of the media. Keep at least one copy off-site in a properly controlled environment.

·Perform trial restorations.

·Secure devices and media.

·Do not disable the default volume shadow copy backup method and revert to the pre-Windows Server 2003 backup method.

·Back up your server cluster effectively.

·Back up the cluster disks from each node.

uCertify was formed in 1996 with an aim to offer high quality educational training software and services in the field of information technology to its customers. uCertify provides exam preparation solutions for the certification exams of Microsoft, CIW, CompTIA, Oracle, Sun and other leading IT vendors. To know more about uCertify, please visit http://www.ucertify.com/

Recovering Your PC From Disaster With Vista Backup

A pre-requisite to using this feature of Vista is buying the license for either Vista Business or Ultimate editions. Unfortunately Microsoft have not made it available in other versions of Vista. There are two types of backup you can use, and they affect how you restore the system:

1. Using the 'Backup Computer' it's possible to write what's called an image backup of your entire PC to a backup device usually a USB stick or external drive. This snapshot of your entire system allows you to recover exactly to the same point in time. However, because it is an 'image' of your system drive it requires the restoring PC to have a system drive of at least the same capacity. Usually it would be the same PC so this is not a problem. It is also the lengthier of the two backup options as it backs up the whole machine.

2. Using 'Backup Files' you can backup selected data files such as images, photos, music, documents, spreadsheets, emails and application data. This type of backup is incremental i.e. it only backs up changed files and therefore is usually very fast taking only a few minutes. However it will not enable you to restore a full system, only those backed up files.

Typically we advise you use both types of backup and blend them to cover all your data and system. So for example you might take a complete backup weekly, but a file backup daily. In the event of a disaster you would need to restore the system backup first, and then each daily backup (since its incremental) that contains changes that will not be on the full system backup.

The service has a scheduling function within it so that regular file or full image backups can be taken on a regular basis be that daily, weekly or monthly, whatever suits your needs. With the speed of modern drives the backup of your entire PC can be done within an hour and in the event of a disaster be recovered in a similar amount of time.

There are many options for backup devices but with the steadily decreasing cost of external hard drives and USB memory sticks these are looking like the consumer and very small business users backup device of choice. You need a minimum of 80GB of space to backup up your entire system and that's what I'd recommend you do. An external hard drive would normally be connected to your PC via a free USB2 socket, however in some instances you may also have eSATA, Ethernet or Firewire (IEEE1394) connections available as alternatives. The fastest connections to use for backup in reverse order are USB2, Firewire and eSATA.

Should your machine stop working for either software or hardware related reasons the Image backup allows you to return it to its last working state to and be confident that everything should work perfectly as it did previously. What this means is that should anything go wrong with your current installation like a faulty hard drive, corrupt windows file or Virus problems, all that is needed to be done is to enter the Windows Vista Ultimate or Business disc, plug in the backup device and start the PC. Once you have done so, follow the steps below to fully restore your PC to the exact state as it was at the last backup.

Keeping your back-up image up to date means you don't have to worry about any problems caused by software errors, virus infections, hardware failures or corruption. Similarly, should your system hard disk fail entirely, all that would need to be done would be to get a replacement, install it and then follow the process of a system restore and you would have your operating system and software back as it was before.

Please note system restore points described in Windows are a different tool. They save operating system files as a snapshot at a given time in another directory (usually hidden) on your system disk so that without referring to a backup you can reverse a hot fix, service pack or driver update should it prove to cause instability or bugs. This is obviously no use to you is the system disk fails or becomes corrupted.

Doesn't RAID protect me from drive failures though?

Ideally if you have also selected our RAID1 or RAID5 disk storage configuration you can afford to lose one hard drive and simply 'hot swap' it out for a replacement without any interruption to the working system as it is able to rebuild the information that was on the missing drive on the fly, until you are able to replace the defective drive. Once the defective drive is replaced the RAID5 redundant volume set is rebuilt on the new drive and you have fault tolerance restored once again.

Remember your backup images don't care whether it's a RAID drive they are being backed up from or restored to so you can back up a RAID set and restore to non-RAID or vice versa.

How to restore Vista from a backup

Assuming you have your backups now to recover from your backup device (USB or External hard drive), and your machine is now back up and running (or you are using a similar replacement machine) and you have the same capacity hard drive space available it's very simple. Just go through the following steps:

1. Insert your Windows operating system DVD into the drive

2. Reboot your machine (or power on)

3. If you are asked whether to 'Press A Key' to boot from CD-ROM, then do so. The standard windows installation process will now begin with a progress bar along the bottom of your screen. Select your preferred language when prompted (i.e. 'UK English') and click 'Next'.

4. Once the Windows setup DVD has started select the Repair option from the first screen. You will see the 'Repair your computer' option on the bottom left. Click on it and click 'Select'.

On The following screen click 'Next' and you will get to a screen with an option o perform a 'Complete PC restore'

5. Then select the option to 'Windows Complete Restore' to restore from your latest backup (ensure your backup device is already connected and switched on)

6. Windows will now look for backups on your device and allow you to restore your system from it, this will take a few minutes depending on how big your system disk was in terms of volume of data that has been backed up

7. Now remove the Windows setup DVD, and reboot your PC again

8. Your system will now be restored to the state of your last Full image backup

9. You can now go into Control Panel, System Maintenance, Backup and Restore, and select to restore any documents, images, music, email or data files that are backed up individually but were not in the last Full image backup

Please note running through this process WILL DESTROY any existing data on the disks as it completely overwrites it with your backup image including any new files that might be on the disk so you need to be sure you do want to restore from the backup.

Typically a full backup image will take up at least 10GB of space, and your restore will create a new volume of exactly the same size as your original volume so you must ensure that you are restoring to a volume at least as big as your backup volume was.

Backup and Disaster Recovery FAQ

What do I need to do to ensure backups are run?

Just make sure you machine is on at the time set for backups to run, the backup device is connected and switched on. We also recommend you make sure all applications are closed and its advisable to have nothing running while backups are being taken.

Manually running backups

If you would like to run a one off backup because you are about to change your system configuration or add hardware or software and you want to be sure the system is safe this is a prudent practice and is easy to do. Go to the 'Start' bar (which has now been replaced with a Windows icon in the case of Vista) and Click on Control Panel, followed by System Maintenance and then Backup and Restore Centre. Select 'Backup computer' to make a full image backup of the entire machine and its configuration, or select 'Backup files' to make incremental backups of changed data files (the latter being much quicker and requiring far less backup space).

Bear in mind that you need to rename your backup image file names manually so you can identify which one is which when it comes to having to restore them, otherwise each successive backup will simply overwrite the last and you cant recover to a given point in time. To change their folder names simply use file explorer as you would on any other windows file system device.

All backups are stored in a folder on the backup device named 'Windows image backup'. The default name for the folder will be the PC's computer name. Here, simply right click the folder with the new backup you have made (the new one will be identifiable by the date) and select 'rename'. If you then need to restore to any given point you will be given a choice of folder names identifying all your backups you can restore from.

Do I need to backup anything else?

I recommend you also periodically (say once a month or quarter) backup your full system with a complete image backup. This is the only way to ensure the whole system in its complete working state is backed up and can be restored to. If you don't mind the wait for it to finish its better to run a Full backup as often as possible, but it can take some time (several hours).

Can I restore my system even if its still working?

Yes! If you want to revert to a previous working state of your system at the time of an earlier backup then even though your system is working you can go through the same procedure above to restore it to that earlier point. This is sometimes useful if a software or driver installation or a virus has infected your machine and you would like to safely revert to an earlier known working and secure state.

If the Windows DVD/CD wont boot on my machine what should I do?

Most likely your CD/DVD drive isn't set as the first priority boot device so the PC is scanning the disks and trying to boot from them first and failing. You need to check your boot priority setup in the machines BIOS setup. You can usually enter the BIOS by pressing [Del] at start-up (PC start-up, not Windows start-up, if windows is starting up its too late), usually there is a screen to accompany this to tell you when to press [Del] or another prescribed key). Your BIOS will usually give you three or more options for priority order of boot devices for installing windows or recovering from a backup this needs to be set as [CD-ROM] or [USB] first, it doesn't matter what follows it in second priority but ideally it should be your system disk to minimise boot-up time. This is exactly the same process as if you were about to fresh install Windows onto the machine

Protecting backup media

Don't forget your backup is only as good as the medium it's on. In business its good practice to dummy run a restore of your system every now and again to make sure the process and the media are working properly. If you have the time id recommend you do the same. Its also advisable to protect the media especially if all your backups are on a single external drive or USB device. Consider storing the device in a fire safe in between backups to ensure it doesn't get destroyed in the event of a building fire, flood or collapse. To be doubly sure buy two backup devices and rotate them on and off site (at a friends house or different business location) that way if an aeroplane hits your house (hopefully while you are out!) your friend still has one of your backups for you...

Alan is Chief Technologist at Cryo Performance Computers in the UK. He leads the research and development of innovative PC design for games and demanding professional communities. Cryo PC supply high performance specialist PC's including professional custom built PC's and extreme gaming PC's.

GFI Backup 2009 For Database Backup and Recovery

Database backup and recovery is a very important direction in today's computer dominion. The steady increase in storage media flaws and increase in information use calls for research and development of advanced database backup and recovery methods. Advanced database backup software gives a wide range of supported databases such as DB2 backup, PostgreSQL Backup, Oracle Backup, MySQL Backup and FoxPro backup among others. Database backup software offers numerous useful features for a database backup schedule. All people in needs of personal and business data security need excellent backup software solutions to protect their data.

Disasters are investable and this raises the need for disaster recovery techniques. The disaster recovery process enables one to restore system components after a disaster. Depending on the software used and how the backup process was done, the recovery process can be a great deal of work or very simple. Anyone that does reasonable computing amounts will some day be in need of program or data backups. The GFI Backup 2009 Home Edition presents an excellent and easy to use backup software for all your database backup and recovery needs.

GFI Backup 2009 offers you a backup solution for your program settings, photos, documents, emails and music. With the use of a smart and simple interface that is wizard-driven to a wide range of storage devices, the GFI backup 2009 Home edition software has plenty to offer. The great news about this backup software is its easy availability. In addition, it is downloadable, free and user friendly. Other unique features making the software stand out from the crowd include the ability to secure all important files for free. By the use of the ZIP format that is widely used, data can be restored within minutes. For all novice users, this backup software offers a wizard-driven interface which is very simple to use. In a nutshell, the software is full-featured, efficient and fast offering a perfect backup solution.

GFI Backup 2009 Home Edition also offers differential and incremental backups and can synchronize folders and files. Its settings for backup support a wide range of applications while this backup software offers many options for backup storage. Other additional features making the software very unique include its built-in task scheduler that is simple to use. The software also brags of predefined searching filters and 256-bit encryption that is one of the best encryption methods. You can backup the entire windows registry using this software which also offers you an in-depth log for each backup operation.

Be it a corporate environment or personal computer, the GFI Backup Home Edition presents a free backup software solution for all. Apart from being able to secure all your data, this backup tool also offers a registry backup and is capable of restoring most of the configurations for applications in case of a disaster. One advantage of this backup tool is that users can easily restore configuration settings in case they are destroyed. This backup software also preserves the structures of folders from their source. This software is best for corporate environments as it allows backing up of data to an FTP server or network share. The software is also a perfect backup strategy as copies of stack backup can be kept and new file versions can replace the old that have been backed up by use of the differential or incremental backup techniques. With this backup software, you can run backup schedules whenever the computer shuts down or starts. Another unique quality of this software is its ability to reschedule any missed tasks and run a back up even when the machine is off at a scheduled time. Try out this fully-featured backup software solution and unravel the benefits it has to offer you.

For resource: GFI Backup 2009

There are many backup software solutions available. GFI Backup offers the most common and the most useful options but best of all it's free. Chout more info about GFI Backup and download you free copy now.

Windows 7 New Backup Features

Windows 7 Backup and Restore

With Windows 7, Microsoft expands on the reliable backup and restore solutions for both data files and the entire computer that it introduced in Windows Vista, which can be used to copy your important files and folders to a safe location or create a system image that can be used later to restore a unreliable PC.

File Backup If you think of your Documents library as the centre of your data universe, and keep a series of folders and files there and in other libraries, then you'll understand the importance of backing up these files on a regular basis. Windows 7 supports both automatic and manual data backup, enabling you to choose which files to back up and when. You can then restore your backups at any time to recover previous versions of documents, or to replace a file you may have accidentally deleted.

System Image There's nothing worse than discovering that you need to reinstall Windows for some reason. You also have to ensure that you have drivers for all your hardware, reinstall the applications you use regularly, reload your data, and reconfigure all of the system, so that it's exactly the way you used to have it. Rather than go through this pain, you can use a Windows 7 feature called System Image Backup to create what is called a system image. This image, which is essentially a huge file, contains the entire contents of your PC as it existed when you backed up an image. You can simply restore the system image and get right back to work.

Window 7 also offers a way to access previous versions of data files or a previous state in time, or called a System Restore. These features are not part of Backup and Restore, but when you add it all up, what you have is the makings of a full-featured data recovery software suite like Ghost used for many years with Windows XP.

Backup Capabilities in Various Windows 7 Editions

All Windows 7 product editions get Backup and Restore with system image backup capabilities; the only exception is network-based backups: Only Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate support that capability.

One Tool to Rule Them All: Using Backup and Restore

Although various tools are available through the Windows 7 user interface. A single menu control panel menu option in System & Security, the Back UP & Restore menu option provides a front end.

Backing Up Documents, Pictures, and Other Data

If you want to create a data backup, you can use Windows Backup, which is available from Backup and Restore. To do so, launch Backup and Restore and click the Set up backup link. This launches Windows Backup's Setup up backup wizard

In the first step of the wizard, you must choose a location to store the backup. You can save a backup to an internal or external hard disk, a writeable CD or DVD, or a network share. (Network backup is only available in Windows 7 Ultimate, Enterprise & Professional. The amount of space you need, of course, depends on the amount of data you are backing up. Windows auto selects the local storage offering the most free space, but you can change this of course.

Microsoft does not allow you to back up to the disk or partition you are backing up, you cannot go from C: / to C: /

In the second step, you have two choices: Let Windows choose or Let me choose. If you choose the first option, Windows Backup will automatically backup data files saved in libraries, on the desktop, and in any folders founder in your user folder. Windows Backup will also create a system image if you choose this option, and then automatically make periodic backups on a schedule going forward.

If you choose Let me choose, Windows Backup will present a view of your file system. From this option, you can pick exactly what you want to backup. You can also optionally cause a system image to be made.

In the next step, review what you've chosen. Click the Change schedule link to change the default, which is to make a backup every Sunday night.

Click Save settings and run, as the backup begins, Backup and Restore displays its progress.

If you set up an automatic backup, Windows 7 will monitor your PC usage and prompt you to perform full backups over time.

A backup is in progress. This message will occur in the future; when Windows Backup runs in the background you can create multiple automatic backup schedules if you want. For example, you may want to back up different drives or file types at different times.

Managing Backups

Once you have created your first backup. First, Backup and Restore indicates that you've set a backup location and indicates when the last and next backups occur. You can also change the automatic backup settings and restore all of the files for the each user account.

When you click the Manage space, the Manage Windows Backup disk space window will indicate, information about the selected backup device, you can browse the file system of the backup location, view backups stored on that PC, and change settings configured with system image backups.

If you do click View backups, you can't actually get inside the backup folder you have made. From here, you can view the backups and delete them.

Go back to the previous window and click Browse. This will open Windows Explorer view, navigating the location of your backup. At this location, you will see Windows Backup icon and the name of your PC. If you try to double click this folder, a Windows Backup window will appear. Instead, right-click the folder and choose Open. Then, click Continue in the permission folder that appears. You'll will see a folder structure representing your various backups. A number of standard ZIP files. If you accidentally lose everything, at least these files will always be accessible.

Restoring Files& Folders

Backup and Restore can also be used to restore files you have previously backed up. There are 3 file restore methods.

Restore my files. Restore your own files and folders.

Restore all users' files. Restore your own files and folders as well as those of other users.

Select another backup to restore files from. Perform more advanced restoration tasks, such as restoring files from a different PC.

You can follow these steps to trigger a restore of your own files or folders:

1. Open Backup and Restore and click the Restore my files button.

2. The Restore Files window appears.

From here, you have three options:

You can Search. If you know exactly what you're looking for, and only need one or a handful of files, you can use the Search button to Search your existing backup sets.

You can browse for files. If you'd like to manually browse around the backup set to find a file or any number of individual files, click Browse for files. You'll be presented with a modified File Open dialog, from which you can browse the various backups you've created, diving into the full backup or just the files in your user profile.

Recover entire folder

Whichever method you choose, you can mark a folder for restoration as you go and then continue looking for more.

3. When you're ready to go, click the Next button in the Restore Files window. Windows Backup will ask you to decide where you want to restore the files to; either to their original locations or to a new location.

Choose one and then click Restore. Windows Backup will begin restoring your files. If there any of the backup files will overwrite an existing file, you'll see the normal File Copy window shown below, which offers you a chance to overwrite, copy but keep both files, or don't copy.

When the restore is complete, Windows Backup will let you know that the files have been restored and list them.

Windows 7 System Image Backup

Backing up and restoring data files is important and should be on a regular basis, recently a new type of backup utility that backs up entire PC systems using system images has become quite available. These types of backups protect against a hard drive failure, virus infection or a major crash: If your you can use this system image to restore the PC to its previous state.

System imaging isn't new; companies have been using it for years such as Norton Ghost., Microsoft has created its own version, which it includes with Windows 7.

System imaging utilities typically compress the data on your hard drives to create a small image. Various solutions use different compression types, but you may be interested to know that Windows 7 uses VHD format that Microsoft also uses in its Windows Virtual PC software and its server-based Hyper-V virtualization solutions.

System images contain complete PC operating system files and user files & folders. You can't restore only parts of a system image, as you can with data backups. When you restore a system image, it restores the entire PC and overwrites any existing operating system. That means you should be careful before restoring a system image: Any data you have on the disk will be lost. Of course, remember to use automatic backups.

To create a system image, launch Backup and Restore menu and click the Create a system image on the left side bar at the top corner. This launches the Create a system image, shown below, which directs you through the steps to back up your whole PC. You can save system images to hard disks or DVDs, as well as network locations only in Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate only. You can only write a system image to a hard disk that is formatted with the NTFS file system.

Click Next. The wizard will give you a chance to confirm the backup settings and remind you which partitions are being imaged. It will also provide an estimate of the amount of space needed to create a system image. The required storage space varies according to the size and usage of the hard disk on your PC. Click Start backup to begin the system image process.

Two file system locations must be included in the system image-what Microsoft refers to as the boot partition and the system partition. The boot partition is always C:\, whereas the system partition is the drive with the Windows 7 Windows directory. This is typically C: but if you installed Windows 7 in a dual-boot setup with a previous Windows version, the system partition might be in a different location. If you have other drives or partitions, you can optionally choose to include them in the system image as well. As the image is created, Windows Backup will provide an ongoing progress indicator.

This process could take some time, especially on a heavily used PC. When it's done, Windows Backup will prompt you to create a system repair disc. You should do so: While Windows 7 does install recovery files directly into the boot partition, in some cases; these files will not boot the PC. If that happens, you can use the system repair disc to boot your PC, a requirement for restoring the entire PC with the system image (as we'll see in the next section you can use any writeable DVD for a system repair disc.

If you have both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 on different PCs, you cannot use the same system repair disc for each. Instead, you must create separate system repair discs for 32-bit and 64-bit systems.

Restoring the Entire PC

If a major hardware or software failure has made your computer unusable, and you simply want to return to a system backup, you can use one of the system images you've previously created. Note, however, that you will typically need to boot your PC into the Windows Recovery to make this happen, using the boot repair disc that you created earlier. Note, too, that restoring your PC in this fashion will wipe your system and format your C drive partition.So this should not a last resort.

Follow these steps to restore your entire PC using a system image:

1. Reboot the computer.

2. If you are using a system repair disc, boot the PC with that. Otherwise, after your PC has finished its BIOS sequence, hold down the F8 key. Choose Repair Your Computer from the Advanced Boot Options screen (below) and tap Enter.

3. After the loading files screen, choose the correct language and keyboard input method and then click next.

4. If you booted from the hard drive, you will need to choose System Image Recovery from the System Recovery Options window that appears. Otherwise, System Recovery will examine the hard drives attached to your PC and look for Windows installs. When it's done, it will list the install(s) it found and give you the opportunity to use Windows 7's built-in recovery tools to fix problems with Windows or you can restore your PC to an earlier time using a system image. Choose that latter option and

Click Next.

5. The Re-imege your computer menu begins. In the 1st phase of this system, you choose the latest image available by default or you can select a different system image.

Click Next.

6. In the next step, you can choose to format the PC's hard drive or C: / generally.

Click Next to continue.

7. In the final phase of the menu, you can certify what you're doing and click

Finish continuing.

This can take some time depending on how large you backup is.

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Computer Data Backups: Test Now or Cry Later

If you're like most small business owners, your computer data backups are one of those things that you rarely pay attention to. Computer data backups are kind of like flossing your teeth and eating low-fat, high-fiber foods... everyone knows what they're supposed to do... but how many REALLY do these things religiously?!?

Unfortunately when it comes to your computer data backups however, complacency can be very dangerous. Of course, it's always a good idea to have a local computer service company that you can rely on for advice on selecting and maintaining your computer data backups. But, unless you're prepared to put a full-time PC support person on your company's payroll, it's really important that you get some basic understanding of the major issues with computer data backups.

So here's a compilation of some really crucial tips on computer data backups that I've put together, after nearly 15 years of helping small businesses protect their valuable computer data files.

Test your computer data backups regularly and monitor their log files.

To be effective, computer data backups must be highly automated to ensure that jobs are launched consistently and correctly, but your computer data backup system also needs to be watched over diligently to make sure it continues to function reliably.

Unfortunately, monitoring the computer data backup system generally isn't a priority until something goes wrong. By then it's too late.... Like the article title says, "Test Now or Cry Later!"

People have a strong tendency with a computer data backup system to set it and forget it. Automation clearly has many benefits, but a totally hands-off approach can be very dangerous if no one is overseeing your computer data backup process.

Test and Then Test Again: VERY Important with Computer Data Backup Systems

With any newly installed computer data backup system, don't assume everything works correctly right out of the box. Even more important, don't take for granted that your backup system will continue working indefinitely. You need periodically to restore some folders and files from your backup media to validate that your computer data backup system still works.

If your automated computer data backup routine is configured to include a verify run with each backup job, testing a sample restore job monthly should be adequate. However, if you have an extremely low tolerance for risk, you may want to simulate a sample restore job once a week.

The Hazard of Moving Parts and Open Design with Computer Backup Systems

Why do you need to take these precautions if you're purchasing a reliable, business-class computer data backup system to start with? Typically, a tape drive or other backup device is one of the few components in a PC or server that still have moving parts.

As a result, it's more prone to mechanical failure. In addition, because a backup device generally is open, as opposed to the sealed design of a hard drive, it's easy for the inside of the computer data backup system device to attract a significant dust buildup in a relatively short period of time.

Sample Restore Jobs and Cleaning Tape Heads of Computer Data Backup Systems

Testing a tape for a sample restore job is also a great time to clean the heads of the backup drive if your backup system requires this kind of maintenance.

Restoring a few hundred megabytes (MB) of data to a scratch directory and running a head-cleaning tape should take no more than 15 to 30 minutes.

When running a test restore job, always restore the data to an alternate server folder path, so as not to disrupt the use of any shared folders.

Building a Computer System Backup and Restore Procedure Checklist

In times of crisis, the most crucial issue becomes how quickly you can get the data back onto your system, undamaged. So, as you build your computer data backup system, be sure to document your test procedures into handy checklists.

This documentation also can be great for cross-training and crucial for avoiding panic during an emergency. Be sure you have a hard copy of this documentation next to your system and stored off-site with your backup media.

Watching the Log Files of Your Computer Data Backup System

In addition to running test restore jobs, you must inspect your computer data backup system log files daily. When the backup system is first installed, take time to get familiar with the way log files look when everything is working. This way, if something goes awry, you'll be better prepared to pinpoint the nature of the problem immediately.

As network operating system (NOS) suites and backup software have become more sophisticated, it's now possible to monitor backup system log files remotely and more proactively. In most cases, the backup system log files are just plain text (.txt) files.

Many third-party tools and utilities, as well as those included with Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server (SBS) and Microsoft BackOffice Server, can automatically e-mail or fax a backup system log file at a preconfigured time.

Automatically and Remotely Monitoring Tape Backup Log Files

Many computer consultants have their small business clients' log files automatically e-mailed to them daily, so the consultants proactively can watch out for potential problems with the computer data backup system.

However, don't think this proactive monitoring is limited to professional consultants. If your company has one or more branch offices you support from a centralized location, you also can use a similar method to monitor backup system health in remote locations.

For greater flexibility, you can set up an e-mail alias so the computer data backup system log file automatically is sent to you, your second-in-command and perhaps an external computer consultant - so you are all kept in the loop. Also, this way, monitoring continues even when you're out of the office or on vacation.

The Bottom Line

If your small business depends greatly on its computer systems, backing up your data is not optional... and it is not something that can be casually brushed to the back burner.

Use the computer data backup tips in the articles to help you become a more IT-aware small business owner. And remember, when it comes to computer data backups, "Test Now or Cry Later". The choice is yours.

Joshua Feinberg is a 15-year veteran computer consultant, an internationally recognized expert on small business computer consulting. He has appeared in dozens of business and IT trade publications including American Express OPEN Platinum Ventures, Entrepreneur, Inc, SCORE, Small Business Computing, and USA Today. To learn more about Joshua?s money-savings tips for small business PC support, visit his site at http://www.PCSupportTips.com

Creating a Backup Plan

Your company's data may be its most important asset. Imagine a large corporation with millions of dollars of account receivable and account payable data stored on their network. A fire causes massive data loss. How much work would be required to re-create the lost data? Without backups, the company may not survive the disaster.

Choosing a backup media is important, but in this article I'll focus on creating a plan for the type and frequency of backups. Let's assume you will use some type of tape backup media.

If your company has only a small amount of data, you may be able to perform a full backup every night. You would need two tapes which you would alternate in case the most recent full backup turns out defective. At least you have a previous one to go back to. You would store the tapes in a secure off-site location to avoid being destroyed in the same disaster that might destroy the original data.

When you perform a full backup, each file that gets baked up has the "archive" attribute in its file properties set to zero.

The archive attribute is a flag stored for each file that has been created or modified. It indicates that the file needs to be archived. Backup programs can reduce the size of backups by saving only files which have been modified since the previous backup. When the file is saved in a full or incremental backup, the archive bit is set to one.

In Windows, you can view the archive attribute for any file by right-clicking the file in Windows Explorer and selecting "Properties" in the popup menu. In the "Properties" dialog box, click on the "Advanced..." button.

If your company has a large amount of data, it would be too time consuming to perform a full backup every night. Instead, you would perform a full backup only on Friday nights, and perform a "differential" backup on other weekday night. This backup plan would require six tapes.

- A differential backup saves all files that have been created or modified since the last FULL backup.

- Restoring with differential backups is easy. You need just use two tapes. First restore the last full backup. Then restore the last differential backup.

A differential backup doesn't reset the archive attribute. The next time you perform a differential backup, it will again save all the files that have changed since the last full backup. So each night, the differential backup will get progressively larger until the next you perfrom a full backup.

If your company has a great amount of data that changes every day, it would be too time consuming to perform a differential backup every night. Instead, you might perform a full backup on Friday nights, and an "incremental" backup on other weekday night.

- An incremental backup saves only the files that have changed since the last full or incremental backup.

An incremental backup checks the archive attribute to determine if the file has changed and needs to be backed up. Then it resets the archive attribute. An incremental backup stays small because it includes only files that have changed since the last full or incremental backup.

- Restoring with incremental backups is more time consuming. First, restore the last full backup. Then restore all the incremental backups made since the full backup, in the order they were made. The only reason to use an incremental backup scheme is if differential backups become too large, requiring more than one tape.

Many company networks continue to opperate on Saturday and even Sunday. In this case, you would need to add the required additional tapes to the plan.

If during the day your company creates a large volume of data, or a small amount of data that is too critical to wait for the standard night time backup, you can perform a copy backup. To do this, you just copy the selected files to a backup media.

Copyright(C) 2004 Bucaro TecHelp.

Permission is granted for the below article to forward, reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, and the resource box below is included.

Stephen Bucaro

To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com. To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter visit http://bucarotechelp.com/search/000800.asp.

Data Backup - Computer Backup - Safe Guard Important Data

Data Backup - The most effective way to prevent data loss is a solid data back-up procedure. Critical data should be backed-up at least once daily or possibly even more often for very active file systems. The frequency will depend upon the rate at which the protected data is modified or updated.

Data Backup falls into three basic categories:

Normal Backup. All files are stored and marked as having been backed up (in other words, the archive attribute is cleared). With this type you need only the most recent copy of the stored file or tape to restore all of the files. You usually perform one of these the first time you create a backup set.
Differential Backup. Here only files created or changed since the last normal or incremental backup are stored. It does not mark files as having been copied (in other words, the archive attribute is not cleared). If you are performing a combination of normal and differential backups, restoring files and folders requires that you have the last normal as well as the last differential backup.
Incremental Backup. An incremental backup backs up only those files created or changed since the last normal or incremental backup. It marks files as having been backed up (in other words, the archive attribute is cleared). If you use a combination of normal and incremental backups, you will need to have the last normal backup set as well as all incremental backup sets in order to restore your data.

Normal Backup- Anytime that a new procedure is initiated this type of backup must first be created before 'Incremental' or 'Differential' becomes possible. A 'Normal' backup copies all of the selected files and stores a complete copy of them in the destination set. Therefore, to perform a restore from a 'Normal' backup you need nothing more than the most recent 'Normal' set to restore every file that has been stored.

So you may ask, what is the point of the 'Differential' and 'Incremental' backup options. Well, it comes down to speed and storage space. A 'Normal' backup can take quite a long time to perform depending on the amount of data that is being backed up as well as use a very large amount of storage space.

Differential Backup- The 'Differential' backup looks at the data that is stored in the last 'Normal' backup and compares it to the state of the data in the current system and then stores only that data that has changed in the interim. In the typical computer environment, the ratio of the data that changes each day to the data that remains static is somewhere on the order of 1 to 2 percent. Therefore, the size of the 'Differential' backup is fractionally tiny in comparison to a 'Normal' backup and the time it takes to generate and store a 'Differential' backup is minimal compared to the time it would take to create another 'Normal' backup set. However, a 'Differential' backup set, in and of itself, is of no value. To perform a data restore from a 'Differential' backup, both the original 'Normal' backup set as well as the 'Differential' backup set are required.

Incremental Backup- The 'Incremental' backup looks at the data that is stored in the last 'Normal' backup set and also the changes that have been saved in the last 'Incremental' backup set and then compares that information to the current state of the system, storing only that data that has changed in the interim. This type of backup uses even less storage space and theoretically can be done even more frequently (even hourly). The biggest drawback to this type of backup is that to perform a data restore using this method you need the original 'Normal' backup set and all of the incremental backup sets as well.

A solid back-up procedure would normally be comprised of a combination of a periodic 'Normal' backup (maybe weekly or monthly) and either daily 'Incremental' or daily 'Differential' backups. The reason periodic 'Normal' backups need to be performed is because of the fact that over time the 'Differential' backup sets grow larger and larger and take longer and longer to create. In the case of the 'Incremental' backup, as time passes the number of backup sets continues to increase each time a backup is executed. Performing a fresh 'Normal' backup allows this process to start over.

Every system configuration should include some form of Data Backup:

We know that your data is important to you. A Data Backup plan is inexpensive and should be part of every basic system configuration.

I own a Computer Repair and Data Recovery business in San Antonio, TX. I spent 10 years in database development and the past seven mainly repairing and servicing hardware. However, I am now also offering Website Development, Internet Marketing, SEO, and Hosting.

San Antonio Laptop Repair
San Antonio Data Recovery

Bryan F. Keller

Can You Restore Data from Your Backup?

Many users don't test their backups. This is because they don't take the time or they don't know the steps to take.

This means that there is a risk that the restoration of their system will not work nor can they be sure that they are able to retrieve individual files.

You should use a backup program which gives you a full report with verification which highlights possible errors when the backup is completed.

If the backup is taken from a server, then the backup administrator should get an email backup error report.

To test the backup, try to recover some of the files from the backup.

In case the backup is spanning over several consecutive CD's, DVD's or tapes then examine some files by restoring them from the last tape or CD.

Spanning by the way, is the term used to describe backup that can't be stored on one CD or tape but has to be divided and stored on more than one.

Special consideration must be given to open databases.

Many data backup products are not able to backup open databases. If that is the case you have to look for special backup solutions.

Tragically many users who don't test their backups find that data can't be recreated from their backups.

This even despite that backups have been made and everything seems to be OK. Tapes may be bad or the setup parameters are set wrong.

This is especially true if the backup is made with Ntbackup, the standard backup utility included in Windows.

Note: In Windows XP Home edition this program is not included in the installation.

One problem with Ntbackup is that it is hard to use and it is difficult to set up a backup schedule.

There exist other alternatives to choose from. Some are expensive. Often with a multitude of functions.

These products are targeted to the high end corporate market and should be avoided by small and medium businesses.

Backup should be easy to do and the instruction easy to understand.

NTBackup doesn't gives good enough information on possible errors. It's easy to make something wrong.

If you use a tape backup as your backup media then there are several things you can do to reduce these risks and make the backup safe.

1. Make backup with verification.

Use a backup product which verifies the backup. The verification will take up extra backup time, but it is well worth doing.

2. Tapes rotation.

Use several tapes and rotate them according to a set rotation time schedule. There are several different rotation models you can use.

3. Keep the backup at a safe place.

Keep the backup in another building to protect the data from disaster such as fire or flooding. One option is that one employee keeps backups at home. The place used for storage should be fire protected and burglar proof.

The location should have a normal stable temperature and should have no humidity or electric fields.

4. Maintain your equipment.

Maintain the tape driver and keep it free from dust. Make sure that you can get service of the hardware.

5. Keep track of the expiration date.

This is something you need to watch if the tapes are in heavy use.

All tapes have a limited life time and will wear out over times.

Normally this is when the tape has been used well over 1000 times.

6. Test the backup at regular intervals.

Test the backup by restoring files as described above. As an alternative you can restore files on to a different server or computer.

Per Strandberg work as a data security expert and manage a data backup resource site.

Learn more on tape backup technologies here!

Important Distinctions Between Full System Backup, Continuous Backup, and Incremental Backup

There are many methods of data backup, stemming from many decades ago to the very recent past. Here we'll address a few different kinds of backup and some of the more technical aspects of their usefulness.

Unstructured Backup - This is when a user performs data backup of selected material manually, usually to Jazz or CD, with minimal regularity, continuity, or organization. It requires a low amount of investment and little effort, but yields a low level of recoverability.

Full System Backup - This is when a user executes a backup of the entire system disk, creating a duplicate image. Full system backup can be performed manually or on an automated schedule. It enables a high level of recoverability, but takes a long time to perform, so it is usually done biweekly or monthly. It often requires professional guidance during the restoration process as well.

Incremental Backup - This is the most common data backup method on a professional level. Upon initiation, a full system backup is performed to create a baseline. Thereafter, incremental backups are performed which only backup changed data. There are various methods of accomplishing this. Simple incremental backup just backs up whatever data has changed since the last time an incremental backup was performed. It they are scheduled to run daily, an incremental backup will record all changes made for the last 24 hours. This is considerably faster and less resource-intensive than a full system backup. The downside is that it further complicates the data restoration process, as it will be incomplete without each piece of incremental backup data (there can be hundreds or thousands).

Another form of incremental backup is differential backup. Like incremental backup, it begins with a full system backup, then tracks changes made. Unlike incremental backup, a differential backup system records the changes made relative to the initial full system backup. This means there is more data getting backed up, so the process takes longer than simple incremental backup. Yet it only requires two files to fully restore a system - the initial full system backup, and the most recent differential backup. This is often considered the best simple compromise between full system backup and simple incremental backup.

Yet a third and more sophisticated variety of incremental data protection is the multi-leveled or multi-tiered incremental backup solution. In this solution, backups are scheduled and designated levels or tiers. Level 0 is a full system backup. For each other level n, backup data is tracked relative to the most recent n-1 level backup. If you start with a level 0 backup, then schedule level 1 backups Mondays and Fridays, and level 2 backups Wednesdays, The Monday and Friday backups will record everything changed since the initial level 0 backup. The Wednesday backups, however, will only record changes made since Monday, because it is a level 2 backup (and Monday's was a level 1). Though more complex, this system allows for a much higher level of resource management. For large amounts of data (thinks terabytes of corporate data) this can be a significant boost in available processing power. By customizing your incremental levels, you can optimize your ratio of data security to processing power consumption.

The most recent advent to mainstream data security is continuous backup. It is essentially a modernized, upgraded version of disk mirroring. In a disk mirror scenario, a backup drive is setup to simply mimic a drive you select - every change continuously throughout the day. Continuous backup takes this concept one step further by tracking the changes made, enabling the user to roll them back and thus restore their system to virtually any point in time. This is the simplest and most reliable backup method for home users and small business - situations in which there is a limited amount of data changing at any given time. The only limitation is processing power - a newer system is important to manage to disk syncing without perceivable changes in performance. Continuous backup can also be successful for large-scale operations, provided it is implemented at a low (user-end) level (such that there are a manageable number of changes processed at any one given time). For home and small business users with older systems, differential backup can offer better performance, but provides a lesser degree of reliable system restoration and requires more user input and understanding of the implemented software. Ultimately continuous data protection is an excellent upgrade solution for home and small business users in the process of upgrading their older computer systems.

At Rebit, http://rebit.com, Dennis and two co-founders created something referred to as "ridiculously simple backup". Rebit products are ideal for small business, relieving the burden of backup for IT providers and PC users. The Rebit SaveMe product is the only backup and recovery solution that starts working the minute it is installed, keeping PCs continuously protected from crashes, viruses or accidental file deletions. All Rebit products are continuous, complete, and easy to use. There are no buttons, no schedules, and no configurations. In the event of a catastrophe, one can easily and quickly recover individual files, entire folders, or restore the complete system to a point in time. For more information: http://rebit.com/products/product-comparison/.

Tape Backup Strategies

Before you can have a secure and effective plan for managing your data, you must incorporate a strategy that includes the following information:

• The importance of the data you are backing up

• How often to back up your system

• How many tapes you will use

• When you will use certain tapes

• How you will keep track of your backup information

Choosing a Backup Strategy.

Several tape rotation schemes are described in this chapter. Prior to choosing a strategy to use with your Backup Exec system, you should examine the following questions.

How often should I back up?

While there is no set rule on how often to back up your data, there is one consideration that can help you decide for yourself: What is the cost of recreating data that was added or modified since the last backup?

Calculate the manpower, lost time and/or sales and other costs that would be incurred if your system crashed just before the next backup was to take place (always assume the worst-case scenario). If the cost is excessive, the strategy needs to be adjusted accordingly.

For example, if you have a database containing important customer information that you update several times a day, the cost to recreate that information would probably be quite substantial. On the other hand, the cost to recreate the data for one or two inter-office memos would be considerably less.

Ideally, you would want to do at least one Normal backup of all drives, directories, and files every day. Important files and directories that constantly change may need to be backed up several times a day. For safety reasons, a Normal backup should always be performed before adding new applications or changing your system's configuration.

How long does the data need to be stored?

The amount of time the data needs to be stored is directly related to the tape rotation scheme you use. For example, if you use one tape and back up every day, your backups will never be more than a day old.

Since tape media is relatively inexpensive when compared to the value of your data, it is a good idea to periodically backup your system on a tape not used in the tape rotation scheme and store it permanently.

The threat of viruses is an issue here also. Some viruses take effect immediately, while others may take days or weeks to cause noticeable damage. Because of this, you should have at least the following backups available to restore at any time:

• 3 daily backups (i.e., Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)

• A one-week-old Normal backup

• A one-month-old Normal backup

Having these backups available should allow you to restore your system prior to when it became infected.

Important: Be careful not to restore data you think may be infected to a drive that is not infected.

What is the life expectancy of a tape?

Tapes that are used over and over will eventually become old and worn out. When this happens, the success of restoring data from those tapes diminishes. Since tape media is relatively inexpensive, it is a good idea to periodically replace your older tapes with new tapes.

Set a standard as to how long you can use a tape before you replace it based on the backup strategy you use, the number of times you use the tape, and how long you plan to keep the tape. Also, if the quality and reliability of a tape becomes questionable (you begin to get tape errors during a backup operation), you should replace the tape.

The suggested standard to be:

• if the tape is used once a week then dispose of after 3 months

• if the tape is used often then dispose of after 6 months

• if the tape is used periodically then dispose of after 12 months.

Backup Methods

There are five backup methods:

Method - Description

Normal - Normal backups will back up all selected drives, directories, and files regardless of whether or not they have changed since the last backup (resets the archive bit).

Incremental - Incremental backups will back up only the files that have been created or changed since the last Normal or Incremental backup (resets the archive bit).

Differential - Differential backups will back up all files that have been created or changed since the last Normal backup (does not reset the archive bit).

Copy - Copy backups will back up all selected drives, directories, and files and does not affect subsequent Incremental or Differential backups.

Daily - The Daily Backup method backs up all files with today's date (created or changed today) and does not affect the files' backup status (does not reset the archive bit).

Before you can develop your tape rotation scheme, you will need to decide whether you want to do Normal, Incremental, Differential, or Daily backups or a combination. There are advantages and disadvantages to each method. Copy and Daily backups may be performed in addition to the tape rotation scheme selected.

Normal Backups

Advantages

Files are easy to find - Since Normal backups include all data contained on your hard drive, you do not have to search through several tapes to find a file that you need to restore.

There is always a current backup of your entire system on one tape or tape set - If you should need to restore your entire system, all of the most current information is located on the last backup.

Disadvantages

Redundant backups - since most of the files on your system rarely change, each backup following the first is just a copy of what has already been backed up.

Normal backups take longer to perform - Depending on how much data you are backing up, Normal backups can be time consuming.

Incremental Backups

Advantages

Better use of media - Only files that were created or changed since the last backup are included, so there is much less data storage space required.

Less time required for backup - Incremental backups take much less time than Normal backups to complete.

Disadvantages

Files are more difficult to find - Incremental files may be spread across all tapes used since the last Normal backup. You may be required to search several tapes to find the file you want to restore (this is typically not a problem if you use full cataloging and Backup Exec's Advanced File Selection feature).

Full restoration of your hard drive may be time consuming - Restoring a hard drive will probably require the restoration of data from more than one tape. This can take more time than if all data was on a single tape.

Differential Backups

Differential backups include backing up all files that were created or changed since the last Normal backup. For example, let's say you perform a Differential backup on Monday following Friday's Normal backup. When you perform a Differential backup again on Tuesday, the backup will include the data you backed up Monday, as well as any files that were changed on Tuesday. If you had performed an Incremental backup on Monday and Tuesday, Tuesday's backup would include only files that were created or changed since Monday's backup.

Advantages

Files are easy to find - Restoring a system backed up under the Differential backup strategy requires a maximum of two tapes-the latest Normal backup tape and the latest Differential backup tape. This potentially represents a considerable time savings over backup strategies which require the latest Normal backup tape and all Incremental backup tapes created since the Normal backup.

Less time required for backup - Differential backups take much less time to complete than Normal backups.

Disadvantages

Redundant backups - The amount of data backed up each day following a Normal backup gets greater and greater. For example, let's say you are performing a Normal backup on Friday, and Differential backups Monday through Thursday. Redundancy occurs because the same information backed up on Monday will be backed up again three times (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday).

Copy Backups

Copy backups may be performed in addition to the tape rotation scheme selected. Copy backups allow you to perform a backup to meet a specific purpose (e.g., create a special tape, backup specific data, etc.).

Daily Backups

Daily backups may be performed in addition to the tape rotation scheme selected. The Daily Backup method backs up all files with today's date (created or changed today). The Daily Backup method does not affect the files' backup status (does not reset the archive bit).

Tape Rotation Schemes

There are many different tape rotation schemes. They differ mostly by the number of tapes they require and how long the tapes are kept before they are rotated back into the schedule. The tape rotation schemes described here are:

• Son

• Father/Son

• Grandfather

• Ten Tape

Stick to the Schedule

To realize the maximum benefits of your tape rotation scheme, stick to the schedule. If the schedule is not followed regularly, mistakes could take place that would render all backup efforts useless. Make sure that backups of your system are performed on schedule.

The tape rotation schemes described here are generic. Depending on the value and quantity of your data, you may want to adjust a schedule to better fit your needs. For example, if you are using the Grandfather scheme, you may want to perform a Copy backup on the last Saturday of the month to rotate off-site for permanent storage.

Son Scheme

Number of tapes required: 1

Maximum Storage life: last backup

This tape rotation scheme simply involves doing a Normal backup every day. Although the Son scheme is simple to manage, backing up with a single tape is not an effective backup strategy due to the fact that magnetic media eventually wears out after many uses and the data you can restore only dates back to your last backup.

Father/Son Scheme

Number of tapes required: 6

Maximum Storage life: Two weeks

The Father/Son tape rotation scheme uses a combination of Normal and Incremental backups for a two week schedule.

In the Father/Son scheme, four tapes are used Monday through Thursday for Incremental or Differential backups. The other two tapes containing Normal backups are rotated out and stored off-site every Friday.

The Father/Son scheme is easy to manage and allows you to keep data longer than the "Son" scheme.

Note: If you choose to perform Differential backups, you can use 3 tapes instead of six. For example, you can perform Differential backups with Tape 1 on Monday through Thursday, and use Tapes 2 and 3 for your Friday Normal backups.

To implement the Father/Son scheme, perform the following steps:

1. Label your tapes and perform a Normal backup on Tape 5 (Incremental) or Tape 3 (Differential) on Friday.

2. Follow the schedule shown above for performing backups Monday through Thursday.

3. Rotate tapes 5 and 6 (Incremental) or 2 and 3 (Differential) off-site for maximum protection.

Grandfather Scheme

Number of tapes required: 19

Maximum Storage life: One Year

The Grandfather scheme is one of the most common tape rotation schemes. It is simple to manage and comprehensive enough to find files easily when they need to be restored.

In the Grandfather scheme, four tapes are used Monday through Thursday for Incremental backups. Another three tapes are used every Friday for Normal backups. The remaining 12 tapes are used for monthly Normal backups (January through December) and are kept off-site.

The Grandfather scheme is recommended because it offers a good tape number to storage life ratio (19 tapes/1 year). It is also easy to modify should you want to incorporate more tapes. For example, you could perform a Normal backup on the last Saturday of the month to store permanently.

Ten Tape Scheme

Number of tapes required: 10

Maximum Storage life: 12 weeks

Some tape rotation schemes result in excessive wear on the tapes that are used most often in the schedule. For example, a scheme may require the same four tapes to be used for Incremental backups on Monday through Thursday, every week. The Ten Tape scheme eliminates this by rotating tapes in a way that allows each tape to be used the same number of times over a 40 week period.

The cycle begins with a Normal backup on each Friday, and Incremental backups Monday through Thursday. On the fourth Friday of each four-week cycle, a Normal back up is performed and rotated off-site.

The scheme is divided into ten, four week intervals. The same four tapes are used Monday through Thursday in a given cycle, but change the next cycle. A different tape is used each Friday of the four-week cycle.

When you first implement the Ten Tape scheme, you will need to perform a Normal backup on Tape 10 before backing up to Tape 1 on Monday. This will ensure that you have a four-week-old copy of your data at the end of the first four week cycle.

The main benefit of the Ten Tape scheme is that all tapes are used equally during the cycle. This scheme is more difficult to manage than others described in this chapter. Although less tapes are required than the Grandfather scheme, storage life is reduced to 12 weeks.

Bernard works for Neustro the authors of NeuQs Free Help Desk.