Why Do a Backup?
In today's server
environments, emphasis is made on high availability solutions. Examples
include RAID disk subsystems, redundant power supplies and ECC memory.
These new technologies reduce risk of server downtime and data loss.
Some people could see this as a reason not to implement a backup
solution, since data is already secured.
Unfortunately, hardware
failures are only responsible for a small percentage of incidents
involving data loss.
Among other causes, the most common cause of data
loss are operator errors, that is, user errors. Users may inadvertently
save a file that contains erroneous information, or they may erase a
critical file by mistake.
Besides hardware and user errors, software
errors and virus attacks can cause data loss or data corruption.
When thinking about backups, consider that the backup is not only
necessary for disaster recovery. Being able to provide a stable storage
environment for keeping earlier versions of user files is as important.
Think about the backup environment as being a storage
management solution. To emphasize this idea, lets take an example. You
are in charge of a number of OS/2 Warp Server machines. These machines
are installed using CID, with response files. If these distribution
procedures are maintained, restoring a server's operating system
shouldn't take you more than 30 minutes.
A restore from tape will take
longer. However, imagine a user who accidently erases a document he's
been working on for several days. No solution other than restoring his
document will give the user the possibility to get his data back without
having to re-create it.
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