Backup / Restore

Backup
Backup is the activity of copying files or
databases so that they will be preserved in
case of equipment failure or other failure.
Backup is usually a routine part of the
operation
of
large
businesses
with
mainframes as well as the administrators of
smaller business computers. For personal
computer users, backup is also necessary
but often neglected. The retrieval of files
you backed up is called restoring them.

What to backup?
Selection, extraction and manipulation of data

Deciding what to back up at any

given time is a harder process than it
seems.
By backing up too much redundant
data, the data repository will fill up
too quickly.
Backing up an insufficient amount of
data can eventually lead to the loss
of critical information.

Types of Backup
Full Backup
A full backup is a backup of every file on a file
system, whether that file has changed or not.
A full backup takes longer to accomplish and
requires the most storage space on the backup
media, but it also provides the quickest restore
times.
A full backup should be performed weekly or
monthly on production systems, along with daily
differential backups.
A full backup should also be performed before any
major planned changes to a system.

Types of Backup
Incremental Backup
A incremental backup is a backup of
every file on a file system which has
changed since the last backup.
An incremental backup is the fastest
backup and requires the least storage
space on the backup media. However,
incremental backups also require the
longest time and the most tapes to
restore.

Types of Backup
Differential Backup
A differential backup is a backup of every file on a
file system which has changed since the last full
backup.
A differential backup can be an optimal middleground between a full backup and an incremental
backup.
A differential backup is not as fast as an
incremental backup, but it is faster than a full
backup. A differential backup requires more
storage space than an incremental backup, but
less than a full backup.

Storage media
Regardless of the repository model
that is used, the data has to be
stored on some data storage medium
somewhere.
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape has long been the most
commonly used medium for bulk data
storage, backup, archiving, and interchange.
Tape has typically had an order of
magnitude better capacity/price ratio when
compared to hard disk, but recently the
ratios for tape and hard disk have become a

Storage Media
Hard disk
The capacity/price ratio of hard disk has been
rapidly improving for many years. This is making
it more competitive with magnetic tape as a bulk
storage medium. The main advantages of hard
disk storage are low access times, availability,
capacity and ease of use

Optical disc
A recordable CD can be used as a backup device.
One advantage of CDs is that they can in theory
be restored on any machine with a CD-ROM drive.

Storage Media
Remote backup service
As broadband internet access becomes
more widespread, remote backup
services are gaining in popularity.
Backing up via the internet to a remote
location can protect against some worstcase scenarios such as fires, floods, or
earthquakes which would destroy any
backups in the immediate surrounding
area along with everything else.

Managing the data

repository
Regardless of the data backup type
or data storage media used for
backups, a balance needs to be
struck between accessibility, security
and cost. These media management
methods are not mutually exclusive
and are frequently combined to meet
the needs of the situation.

1- On-line
On-line backup storage is typically the most
accessible type of data storage, which can
begin restore in milliseconds time. A good
example would be an internal hard disk or a
disk array (maybe connected to SAN). This
type of storage is very convenient and
speedy, but is relatively expensive. On-line
storage is quite vulnerable to being deleted or
overwritten, either by accident, by intentional
malevolent action, or in the wake of a datadeleting virus payload.

2- Near line
Near-line storage is typically less accessible
and less expensive than on-line storage,
but still useful for backup data storage. A
good example would be a tape library with
restore times ranging from seconds to a
few minutes. A mechanical device is
usually involved in moving media units
from storage into a drive where the data
can be read or written. Generally it has
safety properties similar to on-line storage.

3- Off-Line
Off-line storage requires some direct
human action in order to make access to
the storage media physically possible.
This action is typically inserting a tape
into a tape drive or plugging in a cable
that allows a device to be accessed.
Because the data is not accessible via
any computer except during limited
periods in which it is written or read
back.

Off-site data protection

To protect against a disaster or other
site-specific problem, many people
choose to send backup media to an
off-site vault. The vault can be as
simple as a system administrators
home office or as sophisticated as a
disaster
hardened,
temperature
controlled, high security bunker that
has facilities for backup media
storage.

Software used for backup

Microsoft Data Protection
Manager
Norton Ghost
Microsoft System Recovery Tool
And many others

Type

Definition

Benefits

Full
Backup:

Restoration is fast, since you

A complete backup of everything you want
The backing up process is slow.
only need one set of backup
to backup.
High storage requirements.
data.

The backup software looks at which files

have changed since you last did a full
backup. Then creates copies of all the
files that are different from the ones in the
full backup.
Faster to create than a full
backup.
If you do a differential backup more than
Differential once, it will copy all the files, or parts of
Restoration is faster than
Backup: files that have changed since the last full using incremental backup.
backup, even if you already have identical
copies of those files in a previous
Not as much storage needed
differential backup.
as in a full backup.

Drawbacks

Restoration is slower than using a full

backup.
Creating a differential backup is slower
than creating an incremental backup.

For restoring all the data, you will only

need the the last full backup, and the last
differential backup.
The backup software creates copies of all
the files, or parts of files that have
changed since previous backups of any
type (full, differential or incremental).
This method is the fastest
when creating a backup.
Increment
For example if you did a full backup on
al Backup:
Sunday. An incremental backup made on The least storage space is
Monday, would only contain files changed needed.
since Sunday, and an incremental backup
on Tuesday, would only contain files
changed since Monday, and so on.

Restoring from incremental backups is the

slowest because it may require several
sets of data to fully restore all the data.
For example if you had a full backup and
six incremental backups. To restore the
data would require you to process the full
backup and all six incremental backups.