Storage backups are essential in today’s world as the amount, sensitivity, and complexity of data increases. Data backups are merely a representative copy of data. By performing a backup, the data in question is copied and can be stored on a separate or attached storage device. This allows this data to be kept in a different, safer place. Without proper backups, data can be lost due to problems such as weather, power surges, equipment malfunction, and user error. Say a main building’s power went out but a backup of the data was stored on the Cloud or another location, all the data would not be lost. Backups also help the recovery process. For example, if a Windows update was corrupted and caused errors to a company’s computers, they could use their backups to restore their data to a previous time before the faulty Windows update was installed. Backups should be performed regularly in short intervals based on the significance and importance of the data.
When it comes to backup hardware, there are numerous essential criteria to consider such as the hardware’s capacity- the amount of data that can be stored, the reliability of the hardware, its scalability, the speed at which the data can be backed up and restored, and most important, how much the piece of hardware costs. Tape drives are generally the most widely used backup devices because they are quite inexpensive, however, suffer in reliability. DAT (Digital Audi Tape Drives) is a much better form of storing data as they offer higher speeds and reliability, yet, they cost more than tape drives. Disk drives are the quickest way to backup and restore files, however, cost quite a bit. One can also use Cloud storage to back up data. Whichever route one takes to back up their storage, they should make sure to constantly update it, perform regular checks, and have a detailed disaster recovery plan in place. Losing data can cripple a business or cause extensive legal issues, both of which can be avoided by thorough storage backups.
Reference:
Stanek, William R. (n.d.). Data Backup and Recovery. Retrieved from https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727010.aspx.
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