By: Christine Harrell
The Sarbanes Oxley Act was one of those historical events that changed the face of business forever. In its wake, many companies were left confused, wondering which types of data needed to be saved under the Sarbanes Oxley Act and which types fell outside of the scope. In order to avoid potential problems, most companies have adopted an all inclusive data storage approach, holding onto all data that flows through the company. For most companies, the passing of the Sarbanes Oxley Act means a complete overhaul of their current data storage processes and a switch to smart, scalable, extremely safe methods of data storage. This article offers some points to consider when choosing data storage solutions designed for growing small to medium sized businesses.Both tape storage and disk storage can be perfectly secure and sound solutions for complying with the Sarbanes Oxley Act. However, tape storage and disk storage are very different types of storage and the decision to choose one type of storage of the other is as individual as the company itself. Tape storage is best suited for doctor's offices, insurance companies, dentists, and other businesses that need to keep records of customer data. Even though there may never be a need to access the stored data, keeping it safe and archived is essential for being prepared for lawsuits, investigations, or general reference. The reason that tape storage is a favorable medium for this type of business is that it is inexpensive to store massive amounts of data on tape media before having to purchase new hardware. Retrieving data from tape storage often isn't as fast as with disk storage, but that isn't too large of concern in terms of Sarbanes Oxley compliance. The Sarbanes Oxley Act requires that businesses produce documents within 48 hours which is perfectly feasible with tape storage. Many companies that have been using disk storage are finding that they are quickly running out of room with all of the excess data being stored to meet Sarbanes Oxley requirements. However, this doesn't mean that disk storage isn't an optimal solution for many types of businesses. The biggest benefit of disk storage is that disk storage archiving doesn't require a backup window and that data is quick and simple to retrieve. Today's disk storage equipment is built to be scalable so that companies can afford to grow. The most prominent problem businesses face following the Sarbanes Oxley Act is the issue of constantly shrinking storage space. The Sarbanes Oxley Act requires that all financial documents be saved - and that includes email correspondence. The storage of all of this additional data has really put a strain on some companies that are outgrowing their data storage needs every 6-12 months or are having difficulty organizing stored data. Luckily for most small to midsized businesses, large amounts of disk storage space is now affordable and designed for scalability to grow with the company. NetApp and EMC, traditionally manufacturers of disk storage devices for large corporations, have recently brought to the market robust storage solution for small to medium sized businesses. The NetApp Storevault S500 and EMC's Clariion AX150 allow companies to add blocks of storage as needed so that companies don't need to shell out big bucks for storage space they don't yet need. HP and Dell are expected to release disk storage products to compete in the SMB market very soon, meaning more options and affordability for growing businesses. Though Sarbanes Oxley has been a source of stress for many organizations, the requirement to store and organize data is good for business beyond just compliance. In today's information age, a company's data is often its most important asset. Sarbanes Oxley encourages businesses to get their business practices organized and documented which almost certainly leads to a healthier company.
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วันพุธที่ 2 เมษายน พ.ศ. 2551
วันอังคารที่ 1 เมษายน พ.ศ. 2551
How Easy Is Recovering The Data In Your Hard Drive?
By: Chris Kennelly
I recently had my hard drive crash. I don't mean that windows decided to be bitchy and make me reinstall itself, It's been a long time since I've been idiot enough to run Microsoft programs, thank you very much. I mean that my hard drive, spinning away quietly at it's ungodly speeds, suddenly emitted a scratching, screeching sound which could only be described as sickening, and immediately wiped out vast swathes of data like some primordial plague lord reaper scorching the continent of Europe with the bubonic. It was hellish, but nothing compared to the misery which began once I hired a hard disk data recovery service.Data recovery, as the techie patiently explained over the phone to me, is not always a simple or straight forward affair. To complete a successful recovery can either be a simple matter or a complex one, and either expensive, or ridiculously expensive, depending on the severity of the problem. Sometimes, the only problem is that something is not working with the loading mechanism of the hard drive. There are dozens of programs and macros which have to load to enable the computer to boot successfully, and if any one of these becomes cross linked, or has any error at all with one of it's files, it can potentially cause a crash and necessitate a hard disk data recovery. Fortunately, this is the easy kind, it is even possible to perform the recovery yourself with a little know how and an extra hard drive. Simply slave boot the hard drive to another one, and extract the data off of it, easy as pie.If you actually scratch the disk's surface, however, hard disk data recovery becomes a much more difficult and problematic affair. Often there are several solutions. One of them is to do a simple software upgrade, where you pull as much data off of the hard drive as you physically can, and hope the scratch hasn't taken place in a spot where it ruined too many of your files. If the hard drive has been physically wrecked, that is, if it is badly scratched and won't spin without doing further damage, or at all, then it must be taken apart physically, and the plates must be analyzed by sophisticated, expensive machinery. And that is where hard disk data recovery can get into the range of thousands of dollars, don't get frustrated, talk it easy and things will go alot smoother.
Article Directory: http://www.article-tree.com
I recently had my hard drive crash. I don't mean that windows decided to be bitchy and make me reinstall itself, It's been a long time since I've been idiot enough to run Microsoft programs, thank you very much. I mean that my hard drive, spinning away quietly at it's ungodly speeds, suddenly emitted a scratching, screeching sound which could only be described as sickening, and immediately wiped out vast swathes of data like some primordial plague lord reaper scorching the continent of Europe with the bubonic. It was hellish, but nothing compared to the misery which began once I hired a hard disk data recovery service.Data recovery, as the techie patiently explained over the phone to me, is not always a simple or straight forward affair. To complete a successful recovery can either be a simple matter or a complex one, and either expensive, or ridiculously expensive, depending on the severity of the problem. Sometimes, the only problem is that something is not working with the loading mechanism of the hard drive. There are dozens of programs and macros which have to load to enable the computer to boot successfully, and if any one of these becomes cross linked, or has any error at all with one of it's files, it can potentially cause a crash and necessitate a hard disk data recovery. Fortunately, this is the easy kind, it is even possible to perform the recovery yourself with a little know how and an extra hard drive. Simply slave boot the hard drive to another one, and extract the data off of it, easy as pie.If you actually scratch the disk's surface, however, hard disk data recovery becomes a much more difficult and problematic affair. Often there are several solutions. One of them is to do a simple software upgrade, where you pull as much data off of the hard drive as you physically can, and hope the scratch hasn't taken place in a spot where it ruined too many of your files. If the hard drive has been physically wrecked, that is, if it is badly scratched and won't spin without doing further damage, or at all, then it must be taken apart physically, and the plates must be analyzed by sophisticated, expensive machinery. And that is where hard disk data recovery can get into the range of thousands of dollars, don't get frustrated, talk it easy and things will go alot smoother.
Article Directory: http://www.article-tree.com
วันอาทิตย์ที่ 30 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2551
How To Perform A Full Backup Of Your Hard Drive
By: Copyright 2006 Otis Cooper
We all know that we should back up our system as soon as possible.But if you're like most of us,you will get to it tomorrow.The problem is that tomorrow rarely ever comes until you experience a serious computer failure and then its too lake.Taking the time to backup your data or entire hard drive is not as painstaking as it may seem.And the rewards of doing so will be great should your system experience a crash.WINDOWS AND OTHER BACKUP SOFTWAREIf you have Windows XP you will need to install the new Windows backup utility from the Windows XP cdrom.Just place the WinXP cdrom in your cdrom drive and locate the line D:VALEADDMSFTNTBACKUP.Here you see the first letter as D but if your optical drive have a different drive letter,exchange the D with your drive's letter.To install the utility,click on the file named NTBackup.msi.The backup utility will be installed to the system tools group.Click Start,All Programs,Accessories,System Tools,and Backup.There is a neat wizard that will walk you through the backup process.WinXP's backup utility will backup your entire hard drive and will make a recovery disk to boot.One neat third party backup software you can try is NewTech InfoSystems at http://www.ntius.com where you can download their trial version and put it to use for 30 days.And if its your cup of tea,the full version will run you about $79.95INCREMENTAL OR DIFFERENTIAL BACKUPSYou should back up your entire hard drive when you perform your first backup.After that it is best to perform an Incremental backup.This type of backup only allow you to backup files that have changed since your last performed backup.Differential Backups copy changed files and files that have been added since you last did your entire backup. This type of backup is more detailed than incremental backups and is easier to restore.BACKUP STORAGE DEVICESYou can backup your files on cdroms and have the files compressed to save both space and backup time.WinXP will compress folders,subfolders,and files during backup.You can purchase compression software that will do the same saving you cdrom storage space.The compressed files are automatically uncompressed once they are restored unto your hard drive.You can also use a second hard drive as your backup storage device.We use two backup hard drives to be certain Ultimate PC Repair is up and running 24/7.You can either purchase an internal hard drive in install it to your ide cable or you may want to purchase an external hard drive that connects to your Universal Serial Bus or USB Port.The advantage of the external drives is that they have very large amount of storage space,transfer data fast,and can be moved from your computer to any other computer.We use the Western Digital 170 Gigabyte External Hard Drive and we simply bounce it around to either one of our four computers with the greatest of ease.USING ONLINE BACKUP SERVICESYou may also consider online services for backing up your data.If you lose all your backup data,say due it a natural disaster such as a flood,your online data is right there waiting for you.Another advantage of online backups is that you can access,upload,or download your data from any location. It is best to use high speed internet access if you're considering online data storage.One such online backup service is Istorage located at http://www.iomega.com/istorage and charges from $2.49 a month for 50MBs to $17.95 a month for a big 1,000MBs of storage.Or you can check out FilesAnywhere located at the url http://www.filesanywhere.comStill another online service to try is CapSure located at http://www.capsure.comBackup your system now in one way or another if you have not done so.If you have critical data that you simply cannot due without,take the time to invest in a backup device or one of the many online backup services.Stop and perform those backups as soon as possible. You will be thankful you did should something go wrong with your computer.Its always better to be safe than sorry.
Article Directory: http://www.article-tree.com
We all know that we should back up our system as soon as possible.But if you're like most of us,you will get to it tomorrow.The problem is that tomorrow rarely ever comes until you experience a serious computer failure and then its too lake.Taking the time to backup your data or entire hard drive is not as painstaking as it may seem.And the rewards of doing so will be great should your system experience a crash.WINDOWS AND OTHER BACKUP SOFTWAREIf you have Windows XP you will need to install the new Windows backup utility from the Windows XP cdrom.Just place the WinXP cdrom in your cdrom drive and locate the line D:VALEADDMSFTNTBACKUP.Here you see the first letter as D but if your optical drive have a different drive letter,exchange the D with your drive's letter.To install the utility,click on the file named NTBackup.msi.The backup utility will be installed to the system tools group.Click Start,All Programs,Accessories,System Tools,and Backup.There is a neat wizard that will walk you through the backup process.WinXP's backup utility will backup your entire hard drive and will make a recovery disk to boot.One neat third party backup software you can try is NewTech InfoSystems at http://www.ntius.com where you can download their trial version and put it to use for 30 days.And if its your cup of tea,the full version will run you about $79.95INCREMENTAL OR DIFFERENTIAL BACKUPSYou should back up your entire hard drive when you perform your first backup.After that it is best to perform an Incremental backup.This type of backup only allow you to backup files that have changed since your last performed backup.Differential Backups copy changed files and files that have been added since you last did your entire backup. This type of backup is more detailed than incremental backups and is easier to restore.BACKUP STORAGE DEVICESYou can backup your files on cdroms and have the files compressed to save both space and backup time.WinXP will compress folders,subfolders,and files during backup.You can purchase compression software that will do the same saving you cdrom storage space.The compressed files are automatically uncompressed once they are restored unto your hard drive.You can also use a second hard drive as your backup storage device.We use two backup hard drives to be certain Ultimate PC Repair is up and running 24/7.You can either purchase an internal hard drive in install it to your ide cable or you may want to purchase an external hard drive that connects to your Universal Serial Bus or USB Port.The advantage of the external drives is that they have very large amount of storage space,transfer data fast,and can be moved from your computer to any other computer.We use the Western Digital 170 Gigabyte External Hard Drive and we simply bounce it around to either one of our four computers with the greatest of ease.USING ONLINE BACKUP SERVICESYou may also consider online services for backing up your data.If you lose all your backup data,say due it a natural disaster such as a flood,your online data is right there waiting for you.Another advantage of online backups is that you can access,upload,or download your data from any location. It is best to use high speed internet access if you're considering online data storage.One such online backup service is Istorage located at http://www.iomega.com/istorage and charges from $2.49 a month for 50MBs to $17.95 a month for a big 1,000MBs of storage.Or you can check out FilesAnywhere located at the url http://www.filesanywhere.comStill another online service to try is CapSure located at http://www.capsure.comBackup your system now in one way or another if you have not done so.If you have critical data that you simply cannot due without,take the time to invest in a backup device or one of the many online backup services.Stop and perform those backups as soon as possible. You will be thankful you did should something go wrong with your computer.Its always better to be safe than sorry.
Article Directory: http://www.article-tree.com
วันเสาร์ที่ 29 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2551
Digital Preservation: How To Protect And Care For Your Data Storage Media
By: Christine Harrell
When you stop and think about it, it's amazing how much of a company's profitability is tied up in its archived information. 99.9% of the time, the right bit of critical information is there when we need it so we tend to take data storage for granted. Like anything else, digital preservation media such as magnetic tape media and optical disks have a finite lifespan. But ultimately, it is the way in which you protect and care for your digital media that determines how long the data will keep its integrity. In this article we'll discuss ways to care for your various data storage media to increase its lifespan. Tape MediaTape media is one of the first forms of digital data storage and is still heavily used today. One of the reasons why tape media is so popular, aside from its dependability, is that that tape media is a mature media. Unlike the newest fad in digital storage media like the mini disk, devices that read tape media will most likely still be prevalent years down the road. Before recording on new tape media, it's best to send it through a full forward and rewind cycle for the purpose of equalizing the tape tension. In order to keep the tension retained while in storage, archived tapes should be put through a full forward and rewind cycle every year or two. When handling tape media, it's essential that the magnetic tape always remain encased and never touched. Not only is the tape in jeopardy of being torn or stretched, but oils on the skin can destroy the stored data over time. As for storage tape media, optical disks, or solid state media, it's critical that the media be stored in its correct case. Tape media cases are designed to protect the tape media from harm by magnetic fields. When possible, choose archival quality cases for tape media that are designed in such a way that they don't emit chemicals over time that could damage the tape media. Even if these archival cases cost a bit more, they're well worth the few extra cents. Optical disksThe top layer of the underside of an optical disk is where the data is stored which is why it's so important only to touch optical disks on the outer side edges. Optical disk cases are designed to prevent scratches and should remain in their cases at all times. Preferably, cases should be made of heavy plastic and disks should never be stored in a paper sleeve alone.If you do need to clean optical disks, use only optical disk cleaning solution and a lint-free cloth. Never wipe in a circular motion around the circumference of the disk. Instead wipe the cloth across the disk from the center hole to the outer edge. Take care with the label side of the disk as well. Only use a soft-tip marker with water soluble inks and never write on the disk with a ball point pen or a fine tipped marker. Both tape media and optical disks should be stored in cool, dry environments that are free of smoke and protected against insects. Temperature, humidity, and other environmental factors must be rigidly controlled. The temperature in your storage room should be between 60 and 68 degrees and humidity maintained between 35% and 45%. Still, even with proper care, digital storage media doesn't last forever. The life expectancy for tape media is around 20 years and about 10 for optical disk. To be safe and to keep your data in the best shape possible, you should recopy tape media every 10 year and optical disks about every 5 years.
Article Directory: http://www.article-tree.com
When you stop and think about it, it's amazing how much of a company's profitability is tied up in its archived information. 99.9% of the time, the right bit of critical information is there when we need it so we tend to take data storage for granted. Like anything else, digital preservation media such as magnetic tape media and optical disks have a finite lifespan. But ultimately, it is the way in which you protect and care for your digital media that determines how long the data will keep its integrity. In this article we'll discuss ways to care for your various data storage media to increase its lifespan. Tape MediaTape media is one of the first forms of digital data storage and is still heavily used today. One of the reasons why tape media is so popular, aside from its dependability, is that that tape media is a mature media. Unlike the newest fad in digital storage media like the mini disk, devices that read tape media will most likely still be prevalent years down the road. Before recording on new tape media, it's best to send it through a full forward and rewind cycle for the purpose of equalizing the tape tension. In order to keep the tension retained while in storage, archived tapes should be put through a full forward and rewind cycle every year or two. When handling tape media, it's essential that the magnetic tape always remain encased and never touched. Not only is the tape in jeopardy of being torn or stretched, but oils on the skin can destroy the stored data over time. As for storage tape media, optical disks, or solid state media, it's critical that the media be stored in its correct case. Tape media cases are designed to protect the tape media from harm by magnetic fields. When possible, choose archival quality cases for tape media that are designed in such a way that they don't emit chemicals over time that could damage the tape media. Even if these archival cases cost a bit more, they're well worth the few extra cents. Optical disksThe top layer of the underside of an optical disk is where the data is stored which is why it's so important only to touch optical disks on the outer side edges. Optical disk cases are designed to prevent scratches and should remain in their cases at all times. Preferably, cases should be made of heavy plastic and disks should never be stored in a paper sleeve alone.If you do need to clean optical disks, use only optical disk cleaning solution and a lint-free cloth. Never wipe in a circular motion around the circumference of the disk. Instead wipe the cloth across the disk from the center hole to the outer edge. Take care with the label side of the disk as well. Only use a soft-tip marker with water soluble inks and never write on the disk with a ball point pen or a fine tipped marker. Both tape media and optical disks should be stored in cool, dry environments that are free of smoke and protected against insects. Temperature, humidity, and other environmental factors must be rigidly controlled. The temperature in your storage room should be between 60 and 68 degrees and humidity maintained between 35% and 45%. Still, even with proper care, digital storage media doesn't last forever. The life expectancy for tape media is around 20 years and about 10 for optical disk. To be safe and to keep your data in the best shape possible, you should recopy tape media every 10 year and optical disks about every 5 years.
Article Directory: http://www.article-tree.com
วันศุกร์ที่ 28 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2551
Computer Backup and Recovery Strategies for Home Users
By: Keith Scott
With technology today, you have a variety of options of backing up your data. In this article, I will cover many of the options that are local to your computer. Before you begin, you need to create an inventory of your data the locations and size of all your data. Please note: The tips/advice here are for backing up user/data files and not for backing up system/Windows files. As you read through this information, you will notice that much of this is "old school" back-up processes. I have used Windows XP backup but I prefer writing my own batch files and creating my own process as I believe this is cleaner for what I need. For example, in Windows XP backup, when you create a backup of several files, Windows XP backup, backs them up all into a single file. My method simply copies the files to another location, file by file, which means you are not later dependant on any Windows software for restores. Now, please know, that the Windows XP backup utilities are full of cool features, it is just I prefer to have more control over what I am backing up.You are now ready to backup where data? But wait, my data is spread out all over my hard drive. Is there an easy way? Yes, there is. My method may not be the best way, or most slick method, but it works for me and has saved me many times. I write a batch file using the old dos command (xcopy) and copy my data from all the different locations on my hard drive into one central location. I can then save this folder to CD/DVD/etc. To improve speed, I use the command line options to copy only new files or files that have changed. The batch file has several lines like thisxcopy c:\pictures\*.* d:\backup\pictures\ /e/s/h/c/dxcopy c:\mydata\*.* d:\backup\data\ /e/s/h/c/dxcopy c:\mydocu~1\*.* d:\backup\data\ /e/s/h/c/detcI now have all the data I need in one main folderWith that in mind, here are your options:Saving Data to Floppy - I feel silly even mentioning this option, but it is still an option if you need to back up a few very small files and bring them with you somewhere. Please note, most computers today do not even come with floppy drives making this option all but obsolete. Saving to a Zip Disk - A Zip Disk is much like a supercharged floppy or external hard drive. It is just another form of media that you can use to store data. While quick and simple, in order to restore to another computer, it has to have a zip drive attached, or you need to bring your actual drive with you. Saving to a CD - Most computers today come with a CD drive that has write capabilities. What this means is you can save your data (up to about 700 Meg) to a CD. This option is more than adequate for the majority of computer users. Each CD drive has its own set of software that enables you to do this, so you will have to refer to your own manufacture/software instructions for details. Saving to a DVD - If you have more then 700 MB of data, you may want to consider getting a writable DVD drive for your computer. While you may think of DVD's for movies, the reality is a DVD is just another form of media for storing data. The movie is nothing more than zeros and ones. The advantage of the DVD is that a DVD can store up to 4.7 Gig of data. That is considerably more than a regular CD. Of course you will need a DVD writer. Fortunately, they are not that much more expensive than a CD writer. If you are buying a new computer, you should consider the DVD burner option. Like a CD, instructions for copying data to a DVD differ by the software being used.Saving to a USB Flash Drive - Flash drives are now at 2 gigs of data and will soon be more. A flash drive is a small device you connect into a USB port. It is somewhat like your computer memory except it does not lose data when the power goes out. These handy little devices are becoming more and more popular as a quick and easy way to get data from one computer to another and have basically replaced the floppy drive. They can be used to back up your data, but you will only have the most current backup, and of course you are limited to the data storage limits of the device.Another Disk Drive - Got tons of data? Get another drive. My preferred method of backing up data is to another hard drive. This is perhaps a little overkill, but it works. I back up all my data (many, many gigs of data) to another hard drive in my computer. This is quick and fast. It is also rather expensive and does not solve the off-site problem, so still need to save data to DVD's. But this method allows me to incrementally backup my data at any give time, and allows me the options to create a permanent backup at a later time. The advantage was clear when I had to rebuild my computer. Once the OS was installed and patched, I simply attached my backup drive, and presto, there was ALL my data. No restores, no waiting around, it was just there. Had I had to rebuild my computer due to viruses or other issues, I may not have been able to do this because my files on my backup drive could have also been infected. So be careful when using this strategy. You can purchase external hardrives for this type of activity.Saving to Tape - It is unlikely that you will want to save your data to tape if all you have is a personal computer or two. Tape drives are expensive and the tapes for the drives are expensive as well. Tape backup does make sense in large data centers or file servers as this method provides a good alternative to backing large amounts of data day after day. It also provides a good back tracking record as tapes are usually rotated on some sort of schedule. If you have a home business with several computers, a few file servers, and gigs and gigs of data, then a tape backup may be the thing for you.
Article Directory: http://www.article-tree.com
With technology today, you have a variety of options of backing up your data. In this article, I will cover many of the options that are local to your computer. Before you begin, you need to create an inventory of your data the locations and size of all your data. Please note: The tips/advice here are for backing up user/data files and not for backing up system/Windows files. As you read through this information, you will notice that much of this is "old school" back-up processes. I have used Windows XP backup but I prefer writing my own batch files and creating my own process as I believe this is cleaner for what I need. For example, in Windows XP backup, when you create a backup of several files, Windows XP backup, backs them up all into a single file. My method simply copies the files to another location, file by file, which means you are not later dependant on any Windows software for restores. Now, please know, that the Windows XP backup utilities are full of cool features, it is just I prefer to have more control over what I am backing up.You are now ready to backup where data? But wait, my data is spread out all over my hard drive. Is there an easy way? Yes, there is. My method may not be the best way, or most slick method, but it works for me and has saved me many times. I write a batch file using the old dos command (xcopy) and copy my data from all the different locations on my hard drive into one central location. I can then save this folder to CD/DVD/etc. To improve speed, I use the command line options to copy only new files or files that have changed. The batch file has several lines like thisxcopy c:\pictures\*.* d:\backup\pictures\ /e/s/h/c/dxcopy c:\mydata\*.* d:\backup\data\ /e/s/h/c/dxcopy c:\mydocu~1\*.* d:\backup\data\ /e/s/h/c/detcI now have all the data I need in one main folderWith that in mind, here are your options:Saving Data to Floppy - I feel silly even mentioning this option, but it is still an option if you need to back up a few very small files and bring them with you somewhere. Please note, most computers today do not even come with floppy drives making this option all but obsolete. Saving to a Zip Disk - A Zip Disk is much like a supercharged floppy or external hard drive. It is just another form of media that you can use to store data. While quick and simple, in order to restore to another computer, it has to have a zip drive attached, or you need to bring your actual drive with you. Saving to a CD - Most computers today come with a CD drive that has write capabilities. What this means is you can save your data (up to about 700 Meg) to a CD. This option is more than adequate for the majority of computer users. Each CD drive has its own set of software that enables you to do this, so you will have to refer to your own manufacture/software instructions for details. Saving to a DVD - If you have more then 700 MB of data, you may want to consider getting a writable DVD drive for your computer. While you may think of DVD's for movies, the reality is a DVD is just another form of media for storing data. The movie is nothing more than zeros and ones. The advantage of the DVD is that a DVD can store up to 4.7 Gig of data. That is considerably more than a regular CD. Of course you will need a DVD writer. Fortunately, they are not that much more expensive than a CD writer. If you are buying a new computer, you should consider the DVD burner option. Like a CD, instructions for copying data to a DVD differ by the software being used.Saving to a USB Flash Drive - Flash drives are now at 2 gigs of data and will soon be more. A flash drive is a small device you connect into a USB port. It is somewhat like your computer memory except it does not lose data when the power goes out. These handy little devices are becoming more and more popular as a quick and easy way to get data from one computer to another and have basically replaced the floppy drive. They can be used to back up your data, but you will only have the most current backup, and of course you are limited to the data storage limits of the device.Another Disk Drive - Got tons of data? Get another drive. My preferred method of backing up data is to another hard drive. This is perhaps a little overkill, but it works. I back up all my data (many, many gigs of data) to another hard drive in my computer. This is quick and fast. It is also rather expensive and does not solve the off-site problem, so still need to save data to DVD's. But this method allows me to incrementally backup my data at any give time, and allows me the options to create a permanent backup at a later time. The advantage was clear when I had to rebuild my computer. Once the OS was installed and patched, I simply attached my backup drive, and presto, there was ALL my data. No restores, no waiting around, it was just there. Had I had to rebuild my computer due to viruses or other issues, I may not have been able to do this because my files on my backup drive could have also been infected. So be careful when using this strategy. You can purchase external hardrives for this type of activity.Saving to Tape - It is unlikely that you will want to save your data to tape if all you have is a personal computer or two. Tape drives are expensive and the tapes for the drives are expensive as well. Tape backup does make sense in large data centers or file servers as this method provides a good alternative to backing large amounts of data day after day. It also provides a good back tracking record as tapes are usually rotated on some sort of schedule. If you have a home business with several computers, a few file servers, and gigs and gigs of data, then a tape backup may be the thing for you.
Article Directory: http://www.article-tree.com
วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 27 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2551
Why Is Important For Disk-to-Disk-to Tape?
By: Christine Harrell
Traditionally, many businesses have at some point done backup directly to relatively inexpensive tape systems. For many computer applications, it's important to have data immediately ready to be restored from a secondary disk if and when the data on the primary disk becomes inaccessible. The time to restore data from tape would be considered unacceptable. On the other hand, tape is a more economical alternative for long-term storage (archiving). Because it's also more portable, tape is often used for off-site backup and restoration in case of a disaster.Disk-to-Disk-to Tape which is also known as D2D2T, refers to backing up data on disks first and tape (or optical disk) second. Backing up onto tape is performed at less frequent intervals than from disk-to-disk.As backup and recovery becomes more of a chief concern in the data centers, many storage managers are looking to new technologies to make the process easier. In the near future tape is not going away, but it will be increasingly joined by disk as a core backup technology.Tape was the only acceptable method of backup for some time. As with any other technology there have been problems, whether it be the media, the drive/library or the backup window. However, backup to disk locally, replicates the backup to offsite disk, then backup to tape there. One will never have to touch the tapes as they're offsite already. In order for this to work though, you have to have something that changes the way backups are done. It simply cannot be completed with traditional backup software because there would not be enough bandwidth to replicate full and incremental backups.When it comes to disk-to-disk tape, there are numerous manufacturers of hardware and software that will copy the data across. Most recently introduced is the Assureon, which is a combined hardware/software platform that provides fixed-content archive storage capabilities for the enterprise. This platform is disk-based, and offers both WORM storage capabilities as well as automated retention periods in which files cannot be changed or erased until their designated retention period has elapsed. There are those skeptics that feel that disk is not ready for "prime time." Many others may disagree. SATA Disk based arrays have penetrated every market, there are millions of these drives "spinning" and drive failures are rather infrequent. With RAID5 or RAID6 and hot spare implemented the odds of data being lost is extremely slim.
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Traditionally, many businesses have at some point done backup directly to relatively inexpensive tape systems. For many computer applications, it's important to have data immediately ready to be restored from a secondary disk if and when the data on the primary disk becomes inaccessible. The time to restore data from tape would be considered unacceptable. On the other hand, tape is a more economical alternative for long-term storage (archiving). Because it's also more portable, tape is often used for off-site backup and restoration in case of a disaster.Disk-to-Disk-to Tape which is also known as D2D2T, refers to backing up data on disks first and tape (or optical disk) second. Backing up onto tape is performed at less frequent intervals than from disk-to-disk.As backup and recovery becomes more of a chief concern in the data centers, many storage managers are looking to new technologies to make the process easier. In the near future tape is not going away, but it will be increasingly joined by disk as a core backup technology.Tape was the only acceptable method of backup for some time. As with any other technology there have been problems, whether it be the media, the drive/library or the backup window. However, backup to disk locally, replicates the backup to offsite disk, then backup to tape there. One will never have to touch the tapes as they're offsite already. In order for this to work though, you have to have something that changes the way backups are done. It simply cannot be completed with traditional backup software because there would not be enough bandwidth to replicate full and incremental backups.When it comes to disk-to-disk tape, there are numerous manufacturers of hardware and software that will copy the data across. Most recently introduced is the Assureon, which is a combined hardware/software platform that provides fixed-content archive storage capabilities for the enterprise. This platform is disk-based, and offers both WORM storage capabilities as well as automated retention periods in which files cannot be changed or erased until their designated retention period has elapsed. There are those skeptics that feel that disk is not ready for "prime time." Many others may disagree. SATA Disk based arrays have penetrated every market, there are millions of these drives "spinning" and drive failures are rather infrequent. With RAID5 or RAID6 and hot spare implemented the odds of data being lost is extremely slim.
Article Directory: http://www.article-tree.com
วันพุธที่ 26 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2551
3 Things You May Not Hear In Sales Pitches For Data Storage Devices
By: Christine Harrell
When comparing different types of data storage devices, you'll certainly read and hear about all of the great things that each product has to offer. But what about the downside to each type of media storage? Optical drives, tape media, and disk storage, all have their own set of pros and cons that you'll need to evaluate before making a decision about which type data backup strategy to implement.#1 Lifespan of the Data:In most sales copy, you'll read about how much storage space a particular type of media offers, but rarely will you read about how long that data will last. Most people just assume that once stored, their data will be safe forever. The data stored on optical drives, tape media, and disk storage each has a shelf life depending on the media type, the brand of storage device, and how it's cared for. Optical disks: Between x and x yearsTape media: Between x and x yearsDisk storage: Between x and x yearsJust because one type of media has a shorter lifespan than another doesn't mean you shouldn't choose it. It is, however, critical to know the life expectancy so that you can implement a foolproof process for recopying the data at regular intervals. It's more important to choose a data storage type that fits with your business processes than the one that will last the longest. #2 Potential for Data Failure:The whole point of backing up data is to have it available should the unthinkable occur. But what if it's not there when you need it? Optical drives, tape media, and disk storage all have their own acceptable and expected rates of failure. According to some statistics, disk storage has an approximate Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) rating of 600,000 to 1,000,000 hours while tape media has a MTBF of about 400,000 to 500,000 hour.Again, just because one type of data storage has a greater rate of failure than another doesn't mean it's not the right option for your business. After all, a failure every 1,000,000 or a failure every 600,000 is still a failure. The logical approach is to ensure that there is system in place to catch and repair failures. It's more important to inquire about a specific product's failure backup strategy than make a decision based on failure rate alone.#3: Length of Time to Restore Data:When data is lost, recovering systems and data to their pre-disaster state doesn't just happen instantly. Optical drives, tape media, and disk storage each require different processes and require different lengths of time to recover data. It's essential to calculate the cost of downtime for your business. How much money will you lose for each hour you're your systems are down? How much downtime can you afford? You won't want to choose your data storage device on this factor alone, but it should be a big part of your consideration. While disk storage can have everything back up and running fairly quickly, it can't store nearly as much data as tape media. You may need to combine multiple types of data storage devices for different types of data.It's important to seek out an unbiased opinion on these issues when choosing your data storage solution. When you begin doing your own research on any one of these subjects, you'll find that each of these issues tends to spark heated debates among proponents in different industries. Not surprisingly, the data figures vary widely depending on who publishes them. In order to obtain the most objective information about the right type of data storage solution for your particular business, a value added reseller is a smart option. These are educated resellers that offer a wide variety of media types and brands along with free one on one consultation. This way, you'll not only get a logical, unbiased consultation, but a data backup strategy that is completely customized for your business.
Article Directory: http://www.article-tree.com
When comparing different types of data storage devices, you'll certainly read and hear about all of the great things that each product has to offer. But what about the downside to each type of media storage? Optical drives, tape media, and disk storage, all have their own set of pros and cons that you'll need to evaluate before making a decision about which type data backup strategy to implement.#1 Lifespan of the Data:In most sales copy, you'll read about how much storage space a particular type of media offers, but rarely will you read about how long that data will last. Most people just assume that once stored, their data will be safe forever. The data stored on optical drives, tape media, and disk storage each has a shelf life depending on the media type, the brand of storage device, and how it's cared for. Optical disks: Between x and x yearsTape media: Between x and x yearsDisk storage: Between x and x yearsJust because one type of media has a shorter lifespan than another doesn't mean you shouldn't choose it. It is, however, critical to know the life expectancy so that you can implement a foolproof process for recopying the data at regular intervals. It's more important to choose a data storage type that fits with your business processes than the one that will last the longest. #2 Potential for Data Failure:The whole point of backing up data is to have it available should the unthinkable occur. But what if it's not there when you need it? Optical drives, tape media, and disk storage all have their own acceptable and expected rates of failure. According to some statistics, disk storage has an approximate Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) rating of 600,000 to 1,000,000 hours while tape media has a MTBF of about 400,000 to 500,000 hour.Again, just because one type of data storage has a greater rate of failure than another doesn't mean it's not the right option for your business. After all, a failure every 1,000,000 or a failure every 600,000 is still a failure. The logical approach is to ensure that there is system in place to catch and repair failures. It's more important to inquire about a specific product's failure backup strategy than make a decision based on failure rate alone.#3: Length of Time to Restore Data:When data is lost, recovering systems and data to their pre-disaster state doesn't just happen instantly. Optical drives, tape media, and disk storage each require different processes and require different lengths of time to recover data. It's essential to calculate the cost of downtime for your business. How much money will you lose for each hour you're your systems are down? How much downtime can you afford? You won't want to choose your data storage device on this factor alone, but it should be a big part of your consideration. While disk storage can have everything back up and running fairly quickly, it can't store nearly as much data as tape media. You may need to combine multiple types of data storage devices for different types of data.It's important to seek out an unbiased opinion on these issues when choosing your data storage solution. When you begin doing your own research on any one of these subjects, you'll find that each of these issues tends to spark heated debates among proponents in different industries. Not surprisingly, the data figures vary widely depending on who publishes them. In order to obtain the most objective information about the right type of data storage solution for your particular business, a value added reseller is a smart option. These are educated resellers that offer a wide variety of media types and brands along with free one on one consultation. This way, you'll not only get a logical, unbiased consultation, but a data backup strategy that is completely customized for your business.
Article Directory: http://www.article-tree.com
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