Question

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #2237787

    what is the “best” backup device

    Locked

    by rick h ·

    Hi, I am currently using an HP Colorado Travan tape backup with Colorado Backup II. Backups consist of approx. 1.5gb compressed. I have been having problems lately with errors during overwrite backups. Append backups are okay.
    So anyway I was thinking of going to an external USB drive or something maybe safer than tapes.
    I know opinions will very but I would like some input on this.
    Thanks,
    Rick

All Answers

  • Author
    Replies
    • #2628417

      Clarifications

      by rick h ·

      In reply to what is the “best” backup device

      Clarifications

    • #2628412

      To Disk

      by retro77 ·

      In reply to what is the “best” backup device

      Backup to disk is very good for both backing up and restoring interms of speed. I use two USB drives and rotate them at home each week. That way if the building burns down, I can be back online fast [givin Dell can ship me some servers fast].

    • #2628327

      Replace tapes?

      by 1bn0 ·

      In reply to what is the “best” backup device

      When was the last time you repalced the tapes? I’ve never found they last more than 1 year. Tapes wear out. Replace them regularly.

      HDD’s are becoming the backup device of choice because for most they are the only device with the capacity for the job. HDD storage abiltiy is far outstripping the capacity of reasonably priced tqape backup solutions.

    • #2628301

      External storage…

      by alpha-male ·

      In reply to what is the “best” backup device

      My recommendation would be to backup to a hard drive on another system or to an external eSATA (or USB) HD.

      On my network, I do a double backup – to a 500gb drive on my Server nightly and to an external 500gb USB drive weekly. Then I stick the USB drive in a fireproof safe…

      Fast, safe, reliable and less than $500 to implement (including the safe).

    • #2628290

      Multiple, hi reliability drives PLUS tapes OFFSITE

      by sgt_shultz ·

      In reply to what is the “best” backup device

      Hard disks are still the most probable failure point. Backing up to hard disk should be done in conjunction with and not as a replacement for tapes. do you intend to keep historical backups? (you should, imho). tape is ideal for this, hard drives not so much. And I would advocate getting several drives to rotate and not buying the cheapest ones you can get your hands on. I would ‘burn them in’ first by using the mfg’s software to perform the ‘long’ test/diagnostics.
      Last 2 cents: before you blithely entrust your company’s data to a ‘fireproof’ safe, i’d run down the specs on that. most safes are not fireproof. most safes will only keep your stuff at sub-ruin temperaturs for maybe couple hours. Then maybe the fire won’t hurt it. hope it is waterproof as well. The story that got passed around after the earthquake in california a few years back: admins could not get past police barracades to get to their backups stored in the safe. Some admins discovered the safe and contents of safe had gone to landfill. or so the story went.
      so i still say, off-site means AWAY far away.
      I don’t know if those stories are true but they give me food for thought.
      So-If your building burns, let’s say your safe survives. (ok, a tornado hurled it 2 miles away but somebody from your company noticed it on top of the Piggly Wiggley).
      Can you get to it? Get it open? having your sole backup there is going to make it take longer to get back ‘online’ betcha. and you are gonna age fast while you confirm you can get anything off the drives or tapes.
      Tapes are expensive. How much are your backups worth? That may be the place to start: putting dollar figure on value of companies data…if you are still reading, i would also remind you to TEST the backups. regularly

    • #2644210

      Thats it?

      by james speed ·

      In reply to what is the “best” backup device

      Check your tapes then check the drive with a new tape. I am unfamiliar with Colorado backup, see if it uses VSS to make sure you are getting most open files.

      For such little data you can do quite a few things. A USB flash drive for an offsite backup (easy and simple to use). Then for added protection you could sign up for an online backup service.

Viewing 5 reply threads