Time to Dump that Tape Backup

Tape drives have been called many things, but fast is not one of them. Due to the time required to perform tape backups most backups are performed after hours while no one is at work. If a backup takes four or five hours to complete while no one is working, speed is not usually a problem. However, if you need to restore data from that tape during the business day, do you and your staff have hours to waste while the tape restores?

Disk to disk backup solutions eliminate the tape drive speed issues reducing backup windows, and allowing restores to jump immediately to the needed data completing restores at network speed.

Data Snapshots are backups that run as you work, recording only changes that have been made since the last backup. With data snapshots you can recover your data from the previous week, day, or 30 minutes ago. Since only changes are recorded in the snapshots, the time for the snapshot and storage required is minor. Also snapshots are performed in the background while you work, eliminating concerns about open files or running programs while you data is backed up.

One problem no one likes to discuss is what happens if you server dies and it must be replaced. Traditional backup programs backup data from your server and can only restore exactly the same data to the new server. The Windows operating system cannot be copied from one server brand or model, to a different server. The new server will have new hardware devices that will need different software for Windows to recognize them. If a copy of Windows is restored to another server the results will almost always be a blue screen Windows crash.

Hardware Independent Restore technology allows the software required to support new hardware to be inserted as part of the restore process allowing a server backup to be restored to completely different hardware. Unless you have a duplicate server sitting in a closet, Hardware Independent Restore can save days worth of technician time recovering from a failed server.

Also to save time recovering from a sever failure, look for Bare Metal Restore capability. Bare Metal Restore is the capability to boot a CD in a new server and restore data directly to the new unformatted server hard drives. Without Bare Metal Restore you will need to waste time loading the Windows Operating system, patching Windows, installing the backup software and then restoring your data to the new server, adding hours to your recovery time.

No one backup solution is a perfect fit for every business. You should have a third party evaluate your business backup and disaster recovery plans. Look for a local computer support vendor that can give you a non-biased review of your current plans, and offer alternative solutions.

At Creative Computing we work with several vendors and products that can help move your business past your old tape backup. We offer clients a Free Data Security Audit where a security specialist will come on site and audit your current data protection, review procedures for storage and transportation of data, check your network backups, discuss current data protection needs and explain in plain English where your risks are.

If you are in the Great Lakes Bay area, Saginaw, Bay City or Midland Michigan give us a call for your Free Data Security Audit today.

Creative Computing
1514 Court Street
Saginaw, MI 48602
(989) 791-3400