Backup Solutions

[Neil Watson]

I still think that rotating tapes is cheaper and safer than disks.  For
speed many companies are moving to disk backups for quick restores but,
these disk backups are copied to tapes for off site storage and
rotation.

It is a common for companies to fail in planning for long term data
recovery.  They pay lip service to laws like SOX by storing tapes off
site for years.  However, they do not ensure that they have the ability
to recover that data from tape when the time comes.  Five years from now
will they be able to read the tape or the Exchange 5.5 data stored on
it?

To this end one needs to create a data retention policy to cover all
aspects of backup and restore.  What will be backed up?  How long will
the data be kept?  How will the data be restored to the user the on the
day before it is officially expired?  Working to that end, if you buy
another tape drive I suggest you buy two and put one in storage with
your off site tapes.

-- 
Neil Watson             | Debian Linux
System Administrator    | Uptime 7 days
http://watson-wilson.ca
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