Disk-to-Disk Backup - A Path To Savings and Efficiency

Today's enterprises continue to look for efficiencies and cost savings in the never-ending challenge of backing up data. While the area has evolved with improved hardware and software solutions, as well as more experienced IT personnel, new issues continue to arise. These include ever-expanding amounts of data, larger files, and often shorter windows of time to accomplish backups. While tape is still often a cost-effective solution, more and more enterprises are moving to disk-to-disk (D2D) backup solutions as one part of the answer. Some enterprises invoke backup solutions such as D2D in various branch or satellite offices.

The advent of Serial ATA (SATA) D2D backup allows enterprises and even subsets of enterprises with limited IT staff or expertise to improve their backup and recovery procedures. It can prove to be an inexpensive technology that can speed up both backup and recovery, streamline the processes, and provide improved automation. Backup with tapes can be difficult because they need to be stored and tracked, which can be an organizational headache, and restores can be slow because of the time required to locate and retrieve the correct tape. D2D can significantly reduce the amount of resources required for backup, as well as downtime and costs. While tape may be the optimal solution for a large enterprise, they can be expensive based on library and autoloader costs. Even for enterprises that do utilize elaborate tape backup and recovery systems, D2D can have its place for shorter-term automated backup and recovery, if not for the overall disaster recovery plan.

Problems with tape can include:

Finding the right tapes in order to do a recovery can take hours, particularly if an organized, disciplined procedure is not in place.
Unreadable tapes due to user error, media failure, poorly written backups, incorrect labeling, etc.
Slow recoveries that keep services offline.

D2D backup, based on low-cost SATA disk drives, has given rise to a new set of backup and recovery procedures. The low cost of these devices has created a new tier of storage hardware devices that are not as reliable as more expensive SCSI or Fibre Channel drives, but do suffice for many IT functions. SATA has also led to a mix of SATA devices and software - virtual tape technology - that backs up to disk as if the disk were tape. This results in faster backups, greater reliability and better recoverability. Operationally, virtual tape technology can usually be merged easily into existing IT processes, while eliminating the problems of tapes.

Often the best backup solution is a combination of hardware and software. As hard drives increase in their capacity, reliability and functionality, improved solutions continue to emerge. Often this hardware can be used as physically portable and offsite media. Most solutions allow for continual or scheduled backups, and can provide administrators with the flexibility to determine the exact level of protection they need for their different data. Some are specifically designed for servers, including Exchange or SQL.

As with any system accessing critical data, it is important for proper protection of the data to be built into any solution. Files, including databases, should be protected and backed up even when they are open. This may include saving versions of files that have changed during backups. As the window for completing backups becomes a challenge, tactical practices such as complete disk defragmentation of all data and system files, as well as consolidation of free space, should be considered as well.

The need for fail-proof backup and recovery capabilities throughout an enterprise are indisputable. Whether implemented enterprise-wide or in various pockets of an organization; D2D backup solutions can provide a cost-effective method for ensuring automated, accurate and efficient backups. They should at least be considered as part of an enterprises overall protection plan.