Re: [WinMac] Need advice on a backup solution

Daniel L. Schwartz(expresso[at]snip.net)
Mon, 10 Jan 2000 20:28:30 -0800

        Actually, with the combination of hard drive prices plummeting as well as
locating two servers in separate parts of a large building (or complex),
using a second server isn't such a bad idea.

        Keep in mind that, in general, people back up from the most reliable
medium (hard drive) to something less reliable (tape, MO, or even
floppies). And, keep in mind that although AIT is fast, it's still a
helical scan mechanism -- Just like your VCR.

        Before dismissing it outright, take a look at Quantum's "Snap!" server for
network backups: 40 gigs of SMB, ApleTalk, and AFP/IP storage for $1699.

 +++++

        Another issue you need to look at is just because you have a backup
doesn't mean you can restore quickly. In today's e-commerce environment --
Or in a hospital -- an outage of even just a few minutes can spell
disaster. Clustering of two (or more) servers is something one needs to
consider; even if the "failover" server is a cheapie that is just enough to
get by with for a few hours until repairs can be made to the primary server.

        In an environment where money is tight, a second remote failover server
safely tucked several floors away *may* just be a better choice than an
expensive tape deck.

        Just my own 2 cents, your mileage may vary...

        Cheers!
        Dan

At 10:09 AM 1/7/00 -0800, you wrote:
>
>>
>>What I need is some additional ammo as to why a 30GB hard drive is a really
>>bad idea and an AIT2 tape drive is a good idea. Any technical, financial,
>>philosophical, and personal experiences would be appreciated.
>
>You are backing up hard drives to tape because:
>- Hard drives crash sometimes apparently without reason (rarely though)
>- Can you say "striction"?
>- Hard drives can be damaged by dropping, etc.
>- Hard drives are usually inside of a machine (there are removables, of
>course) and if your site goes up in smoke, kiss your backup HD goodbye
>along with the data on the drives it's backing up. (Something like 70% of
>the businesses in the bombed World Trade Center were out of business within
>a year. Sh*t happens, dude)
>
>On the other hand, tapes are:
>- Much more fault tolerant (check out DLTape instead of AIT. I prefer
>linear recording since the tapes last longer)
>- Much easier to rotate offsite (you ARE moving your tapes offsite, right??)
>- Much easier to secure after the backup.
>- Much better to rotate so that you have several generations of backup
>(Oops, I need the version of my file from last month, do you have it?)
>- Cheaper per MB
>- Universal (Your primary site is gone. Carry the backups along with a copy
>of the backup program on floppies and you can restore your files just about
>anywhere). OTOH I understand that in the PC world some drives can only be
>read by the same kind of controller they were written with. I'm a Mac
>person so I don't know how true this is.
>
>Best,
>Ron LaPedis, CBCP (certified business contingency planner)
>Contingency Planning Architect
>Golden Gate Software, Inc.
>San Francisco, CA USA
>
>
>
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