Backup
27/07/12 16:41
RAID is Not a Backup
So your internal or external storage system is some form of RAID device, that's great because it protects against a hard drive failure. RAID is an excellent part of any business continuity strategy. However, a RAID is not, in itself, a backup strategy it's purely provides redundancy in the event one of the hard drives in the RAID system fails. There are many situations where you might need to retrieve data which is not related to a hard drive failure. eg. data has been accidentally or incorrectly deleted, corruption has occurred or perhaps you're just not happy with changes you made to a file and you want to go back to a previous point in the document creation.
- Corruption can be caused by unexpected disconnection during data access (e.g. a cable is unplugged during a data transfer, or the computer crashes or loses power while writing to the drives)
- Corruption or destruction caused by viruses or other malware
- Sabotage by a disgruntled employee or acquaintance
- Theft or loss of your system
- Natural disasters such as fire, flooding, etc.
Considering these possibilities, any single copy of your important data must always be considered at risk. That’s why backing up is so important. Follow the 3-2-1 backup rule. Your data should exist in three different places on two different storage media and at least one of those copies should be maintained offsite.
Hard drives are mechanical devices and have a typical service life of around 3 years. I use the warranty offered by the manufacturer as a guide to how long the drive is designed to last, the shorter the warranty the shorter the service life of the drive tends to be. The bottom line is never have your data stored on only one drive. When it comes to backup devices my current favourite solution is the Tandberg RDX Quikstor system, I use it myself and am very impressed with it.
If you do not have an effective backup strategy, you may not be able to recover your data, or the cost of recovery may be quite expensive.
It would be heartbreaking to lose your data, so please plan accordingly!
So your internal or external storage system is some form of RAID device, that's great because it protects against a hard drive failure. RAID is an excellent part of any business continuity strategy. However, a RAID is not, in itself, a backup strategy it's purely provides redundancy in the event one of the hard drives in the RAID system fails. There are many situations where you might need to retrieve data which is not related to a hard drive failure. eg. data has been accidentally or incorrectly deleted, corruption has occurred or perhaps you're just not happy with changes you made to a file and you want to go back to a previous point in the document creation.
- Corruption can be caused by unexpected disconnection during data access (e.g. a cable is unplugged during a data transfer, or the computer crashes or loses power while writing to the drives)
- Corruption or destruction caused by viruses or other malware
- Sabotage by a disgruntled employee or acquaintance
- Theft or loss of your system
- Natural disasters such as fire, flooding, etc.
Considering these possibilities, any single copy of your important data must always be considered at risk. That’s why backing up is so important. Follow the 3-2-1 backup rule. Your data should exist in three different places on two different storage media and at least one of those copies should be maintained offsite.
Hard drives are mechanical devices and have a typical service life of around 3 years. I use the warranty offered by the manufacturer as a guide to how long the drive is designed to last, the shorter the warranty the shorter the service life of the drive tends to be. The bottom line is never have your data stored on only one drive. When it comes to backup devices my current favourite solution is the Tandberg RDX Quikstor system, I use it myself and am very impressed with it.
If you do not have an effective backup strategy, you may not be able to recover your data, or the cost of recovery may be quite expensive.
It would be heartbreaking to lose your data, so please plan accordingly!