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IT and network folks - backup issues

SK6

Turbo Monkey
Jul 10, 2001
7,586
0
Shut up and ride...
What do you folks use for daily evening backups? Meaning, do any of you use tape backups, or is there a better way.

I know how I would do it, but I wanted to know what the norm is. The IT guy we have is an idiot, and cannot get the tape backups to restore properly, only to learn that the tape backup is not actually backing up properly.

So, what is the best way for doing backups?
 

splat

Nam I am
Tape Backups , with a Good Software Package!!

I do weekly on frinday Night , ( which then get sent off site ) and Incremntals during the week , that are on a 4 week rotation.

My personal favorite software is Veritas Netbackup, Legato Networker is Very Good too. I am Going to be moving all my Backups to Brightstore this summer ( I really don't want to ).

How much data/ How many machines ?
 

Ridemonkey

This is not an active account
Sep 18, 2002
4,108
1
Toronto, Canada
I use an external 250gig Firewire drive, with a script that runs every night to copy over important files. Then once a month I burn DVDs from the backup drive.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Tape backups are still very standard across the industry. His inability to set it up properly doesn't mean it doesn't work well :)

They're not the ideal archival solution, obviously, since tapes eventually lose their integrity, but for day-to-day backups a rotating set of tapes work extremely well.
 

Ridemonkey

This is not an active account
Sep 18, 2002
4,108
1
Toronto, Canada
I rarely need anything legally, and the data stays on at least 2 different harddrives as well. What's wrong with DVD-R? They degrade even without use?
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
splat said:
you need to be carefull on using DVD/CD-r for backups , if you legally need the data for more than 3 Years , DVD/CD-R is a Bad Idea!
You can buy CD media that's rated for archival purposes.
 

splat

Nam I am
Ridemonkey said:
I rarely need anything legally, and the data stays on at least 2 different harddrives as well. What's wrong with DVD-R? They degrade even without use?
Yes especially if exposed to sunlight , in theory if you store them in the darkess recess of your Basement they should last much much longer.

and they will not be accetpable during a Sarbanes-oxley audit
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
Ridemonkey said:
I rarely need anything legally, and the data stays on at least 2 different harddrives as well. What's wrong with DVD-R? They degrade even without use?
Yep... Estimates vary wildly, from as little as 3 years to as many as 10 years. I'll tell you I have CD media that's 10 years old that still works, but it's not guaranteed.

It's just a chemical layer that the CD writes onto, and that chemical layer degrades over time. It's a good idea to refresh CD or DVD backups every couple years - I mean, it wouldn't take more than a day or so to do it, and sacrificing a weekend every couple years isn't really that big a deal.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
splat said:
you need to be carefull on using DVD/CD-r for backups , if you legally need the data for more than 3 Years , DVD/CD-R is a Bad Idea!
Compliance (Sarbanes-Oxley, PITA) in various industry you are required by law to backup three years of electronic correspondence by third party (can't do it yourself) to WORM, so thats better than tape in the eye of the law except for the fact you are doing it yourself...
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
splat said:
But they are not acceptable in a Sarbanes-Oxley audit.
This is true, I attended a lecture on S-O audits even though I never had to go through one - I guess I was thinking that people who are getting S-O audits will know what is and is not acceptable :)
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
This is all interesting as an aside, but SK6 seems to already have a tape backup solution implemented. It's not working, clearly, but it's there.

So, the answer is that tape backups are still a good solution, they just need someone to set up the backup properly. Use what you've got, just have someone smart set it up :thumb:
 

Konabumm

Konaboner
Jun 13, 2003
4,383
87
Hollywood, Maryland, United States
I run our daily backup, keep in mind we are backing up over 20,000 users. We use Veritas Netbackup backing up to a 10k Adic tape library. Our redundancy is 1month online (that means in the library and ready for access) and 6months offsite (in a different building, can recover data from 6monts ago)

If you have any question feel free to PM me.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
The best solution for electronic messaging compliance in my industry is Messagerite which was bought by Frontbridge which was bought by Microsoft. Microsoft calls it an exchange service, but it doesn't run on a microsoft platform (at least it didn't last time I checked with Messagerite)

We use Veritas, I mean Symantec Backup Exec :D
 

SK6

Turbo Monkey
Jul 10, 2001
7,586
0
Shut up and ride...
I don't have it implemented, the IT dude, does, however, it is highly ineffective and the media seems to be corrupt. The media that isn't is still having issue.

The network on the job-site is slow, the backups unreliable and the drawing system management is poo poo...

The program of choice is Autodesk building systems. drawing every couple of days corrupt, and the tape back-ups we use to restore typically do not work.

The IT dude is also remotely doing the IT stuff from Rochester..he's never been on site at this point. SO...I was making a query into a better way to do it..
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
syadasti said:
Write your own batch file :D
Seriously, if it's not a big company and/or the files are all stored in one good, central location, a batch file is a very easy way to back things up. Just a few lines to copy the appropriate directories to the right tape drive, and stick it in a scheduler.

Advanced backup features are great, but realistically, many small companies would be fine with a straight copy of a few directories, performed once a night.
 

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
My unbiased opinion is that Netbackup and Backup Exec are the best products on the market and will protect you in case of disaster. The cost, in my opinion, is worth it if you value your data.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
SkaredShtles said:
And your IT guy can't get backups to work?

He should be fired.
Yep.

It's not that hard. If he doesn't know how, he could learn how very easily and quickly. There's no excuse for bad backups :rolleyes: