Comments on: Backups – offline or online? http://www.waverleylane.net/blog/?p=20 Our World, Your World, A'body's World Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:11:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Dave Crow http://www.waverleylane.net/blog/?p=20&cpage=1#comment-2 Dave Crow Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:48:28 +0000 http://www.waverleylane.net/blog/?p=20#comment-2 This is an excellent post Archie. There are certainly pros and cons for both arguments. With the right offsite backup company there can certainly be benefits for users, but there are just too many downsides for backing up an SBS server using this technology. As you rightly stated, databases are the main issue and there just isn't currently a way of backing up that amount of changing data easily... I must however add that in the defence of such technologies, they certainly do have their place. An offsite backup solution is ideal for laptops within an organisation where users are out and about a lot. This means that as users roam and make changes to files they can be backed up to a store whilst on the move. Once back in the office and files are placed back on to the network the standard server backup procudure will take over. Take Iron Mountain Digital as an example. They utilise a number of technologies namely 'SendOnce', 'Delta Block' and 'Data Compression'. These technologies work together to minimise the amount of data being transferred up the pipe hence aiding in that all too painful slow backup. All that said, it most important that a company uses the right technologies in the right ways that work for them, however I agree that backups should be run to tape and keeping a copy offsite (sock drawer at home) or in a fire safe is the way to do it. And although cost is always a consideration, loosing all your company's data could cost you your company... put a price on that... if you can! This is an excellent post Archie. There are certainly pros and cons for both arguments. With the right offsite backup company there can certainly be benefits for users, but there are just too many downsides for backing up an SBS server using this technology.
As you rightly stated, databases are the main issue and there just isn’t currently a way of backing up that amount of changing data easily…

I must however add that in the defence of such technologies, they certainly do have their place. An offsite backup solution is ideal for laptops within an organisation where users are out and about a lot. This means that as users roam and make changes to files they can be backed up to a store whilst on the move. Once back in the office and files are placed back on to the network the standard server backup procudure will take over.

Take Iron Mountain Digital as an example. They utilise a number of technologies namely ‘SendOnce’, ‘Delta Block’ and ‘Data Compression’. These technologies work together to minimise the amount of data being transferred up the pipe hence aiding in that all too painful slow backup.

All that said, it most important that a company uses the right technologies in the right ways that work for them, however I agree that backups should be run to tape and keeping a copy offsite (sock drawer at home) or in a fire safe is the way to do it. And although cost is always a consideration, loosing all your company’s data could cost you your company… put a price on that… if you can!

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