Backup & Restore

• The purpose of backup is to protect data

from loss.
• The purpose of restore is to recover data
that is temporarily unavailable due to some
unexpected event.
 Backup
To backup or not to back up, that is the question.
– Backup is not free.
– No backup is risky.
 Proper Backup Procedure
• Choose your application
• Scheduling
• Implementation
• Inventory (content and media)
• Verify
• Automate
• Secure
 Factors
• Determine which data is critical.
• Determine frequency and types of backups
to be used.
– Full
– Differential
– Incremental
 Factors
• Determine which data is static and which is
dynamic.
– Some OS installations are changed
infrequently; few backups required
– E-commerce may require continuous backups.
– Understand the changing state of your client’s
data to determine an appropriate backup sched.
– Organize with partitions
 Factors
• Determine the appropriate media storage for
your backups:
– CD
– DVD
– Tape
– Disk
– Solid State?
 Factors
• Partitioning of disk space is used to manage
backups
 Choose your Backup App
• Mac OS X :
– Time Machine
• Linux/Unix :
– tar (tape archive), cpio, dump
• MS Windows :
– MS Windows XP & 7 includes Backup &
Restore capability
– Many commercial apps are available
 Enterprise Level Backup Apps
• Paragon Backup & Recovery includes
customer support
• Backup4All Professional
• GRBackPro7
 Schedule
• Determine the categories of data so you can
schedule the backups accordingly
 Schedule
• Partitions are often used to manage backups
• Examples:
– The OS has its own partition and may require
infrequent backups if changes are quarterly
– User data may require nightly backups
– Users must know what partitions have backup
and the frequency (SLA).
 Schedule
• Full Archival Backup
– image backup implies copying the unused
space.
• Differential Backup – what has changed
since the last backup
• Incremental Backup – what has changed
since the last backup of anytype
 Full Archival Backup
• Mirror – every last bit on the disk is
duplicated.
• Many full backups ignore empty space.
 Full Archival Backup (Pros)
Pros
• Provides a complete copy of data
• Easy to manage:
– Done less frequently than other types of
backups due to cost and resource requirements:
Monthly, Quarterly, semi-annually, annually.
 Full Archival Backup (Cons)
Cons
• Usually requires more media space than
either differential or incremental.
• Takes a long time to recover the full backup
to a new disk.
 Full Archival Backup
• Consider making multiple backup copies
• Full backup media should be stored offsite to
protect data from disasters
– Fire, Flood, Earthquake, Terrorist attack, Sabotage,
Hacker attacks
 Full Archival Backups
• The trend is to reduce the cycle of full
backups. This is because of liability. Files
that are not backed up cannot be
subpoenaed.
• Statute may require destruction of some
records.
 Differential Backup
• Copy files changed since the last full
backup.
• Differential backups grow with time. They
can eventually grow larger than the last full
backup.
• Scheduled less frequently than a full
backups: Weekly, monthly.
 Differential Backup (Pros)
• Redundancy
• Usually takes up less time and space than a
full backup.
• If the differential backup grows to the size
of the last full backup, then schedule a new
full backup.
 Differential Backup (Cons)
• Redundancy – potentially many unneeded
copies of the same data.
• Subsequent differentials take longer and use
more media space.
 Incremental Backups
• A backup of what has changed since the last
previous backup of any type.
• Frequency of incremental backups depends
on the client needs.
– Weekly, daily, hourly, continuously.
 Incremental Backups
• Pros
– Keeps a revision history of actively changing
files
– Fastest backup type
– Uses the least amount of media to complete a
single backup
• Cons
– Much more difficult to manage
 Schedule Example
• Full backup twice per year
• Differential each first Saturday morning of
each month that is not scheduled for a full
backup
• Incremental each Saturday morning that is
not scheduled for a Full or Differential
 Other Schedule Considerations
• Consider completing a backup in
conjunction with and before any major
system changes are scheduled.
 The Actual Backup

• Assignment of responsibilities
– Written in the SA’s job description
• Acceptance of accountability
– A signed form indicating that the backup was
complete, verified and secured
 The Actual Backup
• Hardware
– Choose the media type
– Centralize the backup to reduce redundancy of
hardware
– Not everyone archives the local “C-Drive” on
general purpose workstations. (SLA and user
awareness)
 Backup Inventory
• Inventory the backup media
– Tapes and other writable media use barcodes or
hand-written labels
• Inventory the content of the media
– The backup should have a table of contents
included in the backup
 Backup Inventory
• The media label information:
– Date
– System identifier
– Partition name(s)
– Backup category: full, differential, incremental
 Verify
• The only time you know the quality of your
backup media is when you are doing a
restore.
• This is the worse time to discover you have
problems.
• Restore a small subset of random files from
the backup. Verify their integrity through
differences or checksums.
 Verify: Firedrills
• When new equipment arrives, test your
backup procedure on the new equipment to
verify it works correctly
 Backup Automation

• Automation reduces human errors.

• Many pre-packaged apps include automatic
scheduling
• Linux/Unix backup scripts can be submitted
using the cron utility. Logs can be kept in
/var/log, and e-mail can be sent to the
admin.
 Secure The Backup
• Offsite storage
• Encryption: to encrypt or not to encrypt, …
– Will the encryption key always be available?
– Statute or contract (SLA) may require
encryption
 Secure: Off-Site Storage
Off site storage has risks all its own
– Data can be lost/destroyed in transit
– How important is it to have a backup of the
backup?
– Some backups can be kept on site
 Secure: Example Strategy
Where the backup is stored will impact
service response to restore requests:
– Consider keeping incremental backups on site.
– Differential and full backups could be stored
offsite.
 Data Compression
• Risks – if the media is damaged, recovery
may be difficult or impossible.
• Lossy
– some data tolerates degradation (loss of
information)
• No-loss
– Some data should not be compressed. Know
your data!
 Secure Backups
• Contract to store your data in a “secret”
offsite location. (Secret implies a need to
know basis)
 Backup Considerations
• Backups slow down service. This should be
included in the SLA
– Files should be write-locked during backup.
• Avoid doing backups during peak service
hours. Schedule during early AM hours on
the weekend and holidays.
 Restore
• Common reasons for restores
– Accidental file deletion
– Disk failure
– Disaster recovery
• Fire, flood, earthquake, hacker attack, sabotage,
terrorist attack, etc.
 Accidental File Deletion
• If backups are once per day, lost work is limited to
one day for a given file. (RAID does not help)
• As storage technology gets cheaper by the Gbyte,
it becomes easier to implement more sophisticated
storage procedures that are more timely. (HDD
backup).
• A user wants the restoration to be immediate. The
quicker the turnaround, the happier your customer.
 Disk Failure
• A disk failure causes two problems
– Loss of data
– Loss of service
• Critical systems should implement RAID so that
disk failures do not cause a loss of service.
• Restoring an entire disk is slow. Service is
hampered until the last bit is recovered.
– Consider using hot spares and hot swap
 Disk Restore from Tape
• Restoring from tape can interrupt service.
• Restoring from tape slows the restore
process by a factor of about 5-10 times
compared to a simple disk to disk copy.
 Tape Backup
• Large amounts of data historically favored
tape media for backup:
– Tapes are portable and fairly durable.
 Tapes
• Tape historically has been the preferred
backup media for very large data storage
environments.
• Tape has a useful life span.
• Tape can be very robust for storage
• Easy to transport
• Some tape formats are more reliable than
others.
 Tape Inventory
• Backup tapes must be
– Properly labeled
– Properly stored
• Proper inventory is needed to do restores in
a timely fashion.
– Hand written labels are ok
– Bar codes and printed labels are better.
 Tape Inventory
• Inventory is not limited to the physical tape
itself.
• The contents of tapes must be inventoried.
• The number of accesses must be logged
because tapes ware out.

– Tape equipment is not free. You don’t want to

purchase any more hardware than is needed.
 Tape
• Rotate media
– Incremental backup stored on site can be
reused.
 Tape Standards
• 8mm
• DLT
• DAT (4mm)
• QIC
• http://www.pctechguide.com/15tape.htm
• Imation.com
 Tape Technology
• Tape technology expands in leaps.
• Tape hardware purchases are not made on a
constant basis (like disk storage).
• Tape technology is purchased in leaps.
Three year intervals are more practical.
 Firedrills
• An occasional test of a full partition restore
is not unreasonable. This would be done if
– A change is made in the backup software
release.
– A change of vendor for the backup software
product.
– When a new server with new unused disk
arrives.
 Centralization
• Without centralization, a tape drive is
needed for each server location.
• Equipment can be interchanged more easily
when centralized.
 High Access DB Backups
• Some data changes so rapidly that backups
are not practical.
• RAID 1 mirroring may be the only practical
solution.
• RAID 1+1, includes a second mirror in a
RAID 1 array.
 Technology
• Disk space cost drops by 1/2 about every
18-24 months.
• Disk space is filled as it expands.
• Disk requirements are increasing on a
continuous basis.
• Disk budgets increase faster than tape
backup budgets.
 Backup Procedure
• Choose your application
• Scheduling (know your data)
• The actual backup
• Inventory (content and media)
• Verify
• Automate
• Secure