Backup Strategies for Small Businesses

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jhunter

I've been a tech. forever but seem to be lost these days regarding data
backup for small businesses. Is there a site dedicated to
education/solutions?

If not, here is my question. Is tape backup still the preferred method
for small "Windows" networks (usually one server & 5-10 workstations)
that have the following requirements?

1) Ability to keep backups off-site (I've checked into
Internet/Off-Site backup but it's too expensive for the companies I
deal with)
2) Low Cost
3) Reliability
 
I've been a tech. forever but seem to be lost these days regarding data
backup for small businesses. Is there a site dedicated to
education/solutions?

If not, here is my question. Is tape backup still the preferred method
for small "Windows" networks (usually one server & 5-10 workstations)
that have the following requirements?

1) Ability to keep backups off-site (I've checked into
Internet/Off-Site backup but it's too expensive for the companies I
deal with)
2) Low Cost
3) Reliability
Click to expand...

It's possible to put together a backup system in which disks are used in the
same manner as tapes, i.e. each disk is treated as a cartridge and you use
a number of them in a rotation backup. If you run the numbers on this,
DLT, LTO, and VXA (whether you want to consider DDS is up to you and don't
even _think_ about Travan) you'll find that for any given storage volume
and backup strategy one of those solutions gives the lowest cost. Usually
for small businesses today using disks as removable media proves to be the
most cost effective.
 
I've been a tech. forever but seem to be lost these days regarding data
backup for small businesses. Is there a site dedicated to
education/solutions?
Click to expand...

Probably many. I would have to perform extensive search to recommend one.
Many will give outdated suggestions.
If not, here is my question. Is tape backup still the preferred method
for small "Windows" networks (usually one server & 5-10 workstations)
that have the following requirements?

1) Ability to keep backups off-site (I've checked into
Internet/Off-Site backup but it's too expensive for the companies I
deal with)
2) Low Cost
3) Reliability
Click to expand...

Just answer those simple questions:
a. how much data you want to backup?
b. do you want to archive too?
c. how much it would cost if backup data is not available when needed?
d. what would happen if data gets into hands of a third party, without your
consent?
e. how big are your backup and restore time windows
f. maximum budget for backup solution?
 
I've been a tech. forever but seem to be lost these days regarding data
It's possible to put together a backup system in which disks are used in the
same manner as tapes, i.e. each disk is treated as a cartridge and you use
a number of them in a rotation backup. If you run the numbers on this,
DLT, LTO, and VXA (whether you want to consider DDS is up to you and don't
even _think_ about Travan) you'll find that for any given storage volume
and backup strategy one of those solutions gives the lowest cost. Usually
for small businesses today using disks as removable media proves to be the
most cost effective.
Click to expand...

Except that hard drives are generally more fragile than tape cartridges and
more prone to damage during handling. Also, partially damaged disk drive
(mild shock) might be more difficult to diagnose during normal operations.
 
I've been a tech. forever but seem to be lost these
days regarding data backup for small businesses.
Is there a site dedicated to education/solutions?
Click to expand...
If not, here is my question. Is tape backup still the preferred
method for small "Windows" networks (usually one server &
5-10 workstations) that have the following requirements?
Click to expand...
1) Ability to keep backups off-site (I've checked into
Internet/Off-Site backup but it's too expensive for
the companies I deal with)
2) Low Cost
3) Reliability
Click to expand...

Nope, tape is well past its useby date now for that situation.
 
Peter said:
Except that hard drives are generally more fragile than tape cartridges
and more prone to damage during handling.
Click to expand...

While it is true, in the real world it does not seem to be a significant
problem. It is certainly less of a problem than spontaneous failures of
Travan tapes.
Also, partially damaged disk
drive (mild shock) might be more difficult to diagnose during normal
operations.
Click to expand...

Any out of spec shock will trigger the onboard shock sensor which will
report this condition via SMART. An in-spec shock generally will not cause
"partial damage".

All backup solutions are compromises in one way or another. Disk
compromises ruggedness a bit in favor of cost and convenience.
 
Can anyone give me a specific example of a hard drive system
specifically made for backup and drive rotation? This will give me a
place to start my research since I can't seem to find any.
 
Relative Rev Backup by DataMills (http://www.datamills.com) can be a
good example for your requirements. You have to install an agent for
each server/workstation, each of which is completely self-sufficient.

Then you have to buy two or three USB disks and rotate them offsite
daily. This will give you three disks that carries backup history that
go months back.

The USB disk can be hooked to the one of the workstations, preferably
to the one in charge of replacing the disks.

Relative Rev Backup is very fast as it works in incremental fashion
forever including weekly and monthly backup runs (meaning updating only
the new and changed files). At the same time you will be able to
recover any file, or a whole folder structure, from any retained
version in a single restore session.

You can set up the number of Intra-daily, daily, weekly, and monthly
version to keep, and Relative Rev Backup will get rid of the older
ones. This will give you a compact robust and hassle free backup at a
small fraction of an online backup price.
 
Can anyone give me a specific example of a hard drive system
specifically made for backup and drive rotation? This will give me a
place to start my research since I can't seem to find any.
Click to expand...

If you want a purpose made system, you're going to pay quite a lot, but they
can be obtained from a variety of sources--EMC, ADIC, and Quantum all come
to mind. Google "disk based backup" (include the quotes) and you'll find
quite a lot of information.

Microsoft now has their own support for disk-based backup available
<http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/dpm/default.mspx>.

For a small system though, all you really need is however many SATA drives
you are require to implement the backup strategy you have decided on, an
SATA hot-swap bay, extra drawers for however many drives you have, and
whatever backup program you like--any that can backup to a file will work
fine. Hot swap support is required by the SATA spec, so any SATA drive can
do it and any but the earliest pre-spec host adapters can as well. Windows
doesn't support it gracefully but by disabling the drive and then doing a
hardware rescan you can make it work--that can be done by a couple of batch
files. Alternatively you can use a third-party host adapter that has
support for hot-swap provided in its drivers or management utilities.
 
Peter said:
As per supplied link, MS recommends tape based systems for offsite
protection and archiving.
Click to expand...

And for systems whose size and capacity is such that that product would be a
good match, tape is generally more cost effective than removable disks.
 
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