What is this Backup Thing People are Always Talking About?

The quote above is a real question asked by a worried student in fear of losing a years worth of work on her laptop. Having your data backed up is always an issue. Unlike out student in the above quote most of our customers already know that they need to and should be backing up their data. Knowing is not doing.

Everyone is very concerned about their data, concerned about their computer, concerned about the loss of their computer�s use for any length of time. The computer is the hub of their business and or personal life. Paying bills, keeping track of auction. Schedules for their kid�s sports teams, contact numbers for their charity work. The list is endless. They just can�t afford to lose any data, but they almost never have backups. In a world where more and more of our work, financial life, personal data, pictures and memories are being recorded on our computer.


My philosophy on backing up is �the more copies, on different types of media, in different places, the better�.  In this article we are going to look at different backup hardware and methods.

A very important point is that backups are worthless unless you can restore the data that had been backup on them. It�s like a parachute. It�s not how good it looks; it�s that it opens every time.

The single most important thing to know is where is the data I need to backup. I know this sounds funny but it is amazing how many people we meet in our shop that have important info on their computer but have no idea where on the hard drive that data is. A working knowledge of how to navigate the tree structure of your hard drive is fundamental to the successful operation of your computer. I can�t stress enough that a modest amount of time learning how to move around your computer�s data structure, learning how to copy and paste file and how to make/delete folders will be repaid a hundred fold in successful operation of your computer. It may look hard at first but it is really not much more complicated than using a filing cabinet to store your Visa bills separately from you Hydro bills.
Remember this can happen to you!


Now we know that do need to backup or data and now we also know we need to know where the data is that we need to backup. Lets look at how to back that data up.

The main backup methods are:

Backup to Optical Drive (CD-RW or DVD-RW)
Backup to Hard Drive (Internal or External)
Backup to Removable Disks
Backup to Tape
Backup to Internet

Lets look at each in turn, before I begin let me state that �any backup is better than no backup�. As we look at each of these backup options I will offer my opinion on the pros and cons of each. If any one of these methods is the only backup method you are using, don�t discontinue your backups without substituting another just because of my opinion of its long-term suitability as a backup solution.

Remember these prophetic words. �No amount of profanity will bring back lost data.�

Backup to Optical Drive
Backing up to CD-RW or DVD-RW is the most available way to backup personal data and most computers today have one of these devices. Optical media is cheap and the hardware that reads the data is available on virtually every computer out there. With optical media it is easy to keep multiple copies of the data. Optical media is easy to store and lasts for years. The biggest down side to this type of backup is that for the most part it is a manual process. You have to sit down and select files and start the backup.  Don�t dismay, there are several software products that let you schedule backup jobs and run the backups to CDR and DVD-RW drives.

Backup to Hard Drive
A backup method that is gaining popularity is to backup to a second hard drive. It may be an internal drive or and external drive. One of the biggest reasons for this popularity is the increased size and relative in-expense of hard drives. If you want to backup 100's of gigs of data then backing up to another drive is a very economical option. The best thing that can be said about backing up to hard drive is; it�s fast and easy. The downside here is that we are backing up our first hard drive because we know that we can not trust our data on a hard drive, it will eventually fail. Backing it to another hard drive gives us the advantage of redundancy but �.

Let�s get something perfectly clear here. Any backup is better than no backup at all. The down side to backing up to hard drive is that there are many types of data loss that can effect both drives. Certain virus's that would affect one drive could effect the second drive. Physical damage of the computer could effect both drives. Theft of the computer, flood damage, power surge, catastrophic failure of the power supply, the list goes on.

Some users try to mitigate this by using multiple hard drives; some even storing external drives in vaults or fire proof safes. Backing up to hard drive is a very viable option but not, IMHO, good enough by itself to protect valuable, mission critical data. Backing up to hard drive is a very good option for those that want to backup all of there downloaded music and movies. As the file sizes of some of these collections can run into the hundreds of gigs it would be impractical to use any other method for backups of this size.

Backup to Removable Disks
Backing up to removable storage has always been popular. This would include backing up to floppy drives, USB Thumbdrives, older style Zip drives, LS-120 drives. The problem with floppies is that they don�t have the capacity for most data types today. Zip drives and LS-120�s while once considered a breakthrough technology, are not big enough anymore to swallow gigs of data. USB Thumb drives are extremely popular and are a fantastic product for moving data from one place to another but in my opinion is not a satisfactory backup solution for a few reasons. Easy to lose and easy break are big ones. Not having redundancy is another big one. I am embarrassed to tell you how many times my USB key has gone through the wash in my pants pocket. Let�s not even think about losing one full of confidential data, say customer credit card numbers or doctor patient files, legal briefs, early drafts of the throne speech etc. This is the stuff news stories are made of.

Backup to Tape Drive
Backing up to tape drive is no longer a cost-effective operation unless you are in a business environment and have large data backup requirements, lots of time and are willing to spend some significant dollars. Back several years ago when drive sizes were much smaller, many home users did have tape backup systems but as times, sizes and hardware have changed, so have the role tape plays in backup strategies.

For those of you still using older tape backup systems something you should consider is, �what would I do if my tape drive fails�. Could you get a replacement? Would the replacement be able to read the tapes I am using now? Could I afford to wait to find a suitable replacement tape drive? If the answer to any of these questions is no then you should seriously consider moving to a new backup strategy.

I had a customer call me one Monday morning, his business has been broken into and all of his computers were stolen, every single one. He did have backups on tape. He had kept these tapes in his safe. This was a several years ago but even then we had a hard time finding a tape drive that would read his tapes. If this happened today, I am certain that nothing out there would read his tapes.

Backup to the Internet
Backing up to the Internet is a growing option. As our connection speeds increase and the cost of on-line storage falls, the viability of Internet Backup solutions gets more and more attractive. Such a site will often offer greater dependency as they are storing many users data. The economies of scale start to work in their favor. They can afford to duplicate, protect and secure data. By definition Internet based backup strategies offer the advantage of off site storage.

How do I decide which is right for me?
Is there a difference between backing up data for business and backing up personal data at home? The answer lies in how valuable the data is. If neither the home user, nor the business can afford to lose their data then the answer is the no, they must be backed up. If it is just a matter of convenience or the data is valued but not valuable, as is your favorite mp3's, then there is a difference. The business has to backup so it can continue to do business if there is a problem and then have to restore data. In the case of lost mp3 files, well you just have to start downloading again. A bother, but not a fatal condition.  

I have seen a business almost destroyed because of major data loss. It was crushing. The owner cried. The data loss cost them huge dollars compared to what it would have cost to back the data up properly.

In the above case, it wasn't that they didn't have the equipment, they did, what they didn't have was the sustained desire to make sure that the backups were made, checked and tested. Whose fault was it? Was it the guy they paid to set up the backup? Was it the grunt that fed in the blank tape everyday or was it the boss who let this vital aspect of their business be taken care of by someone else because they just didn't have time to pay it any attention?  The tech felt bad, the grunt lost their job but it was the boss that cried.  

If you use a computer long enough, you will lose data. It is not a matter of if; it is a matter of when. It has happened to all of us. We see people at our shop all the time coming to terms with data loss.

The Seven Steps of Data Loss:

Shock - How could it happen to me!
Denial - Impossible, my work is on that computer! That drive is only three years old!
Bargaining - Isn't there anything you can do? I will pay money to get the data retrieved.
Guilt - Why didn't I make a backup? I've been meaning to do it for months.
Anger - I have a warranty! Why didn't someone show me how to make a backup!
Depression - My term paper is lost, I will fail my course.
Acceptance � Ok, put a new drive in the system and reload my software. Better put in a burner!    

Historical Backups
Historical backups are backups that are saved by date and keep for a period of time. In the old days of tape a fairly popular backup regime was the 10 tape rotation strategy.  In the scenario you used 10 tapes. Day 1,2,3,4 � Friday 1,2,3 � Month 1,2,3. With this method you could return to your data in the past 4 days, the past 3 weeks or the past 3 months. Why, you ask? Because, you might not always find out that you have a problem right away. What if you corrupted your accounting files but didn�t realize it for a couple of days. If you are using a single piece of backup media, (don�t laugh, you would surprised how common this is) you are often forced to erase you good backup to make a new one.

Here is a true story. I know a tech dude who worked for a big Fortune 500 company. His policy was to only use a backup tape once and then save it as a historical backup. Tapes aren't cheap but the data in question is worth millions and hundreds of people work on it. Down time costs a fortune, total data lose would be devastating. His supervisor constantly harassed him about his tape budget and tried to bully him into re-using tapes. One day the higher ups in the corporation realized that they would qualify for a huge government research grant if they could prove and document their research of years ago. Well tech dude pulled out the tapes he had refused to erase and re-use and the company got millions back because they could prove their past research. Needless to say the supervisor never hassled tech dude again about the tape budget. The moral of the story is historical backups are very important. Why? You don't always know until you need to know.

Off-Site Backups

The picture above illustrates the need for have a copy of your backup off site! Many people think that if you don�t have an off-site backup you really don�t have a backup at all. Many years ago I had a corporate customer in Toronto who�s building burn down. I was told that the firemen had to restrain the accountant from trying to run into the burning building to rescue the backup tapes.

Backing up over the Internet to an on-line backup service is a great way to have you off-site backups taken care of. An all too often used strategy is for a staff worker, usually a female secretary, take a copy of the backup home in her purse. Sure this is a cheap way to get off-site backups but might not be the best strategy to protect millions of dollars worth of account receivables or any other valuable and or sensitive data.

Compression and Disk Spanning

Compression is a software device that will reduce the size of some types of data to allow more of it to fit on a given piece of media. In most cases compressed data needs to be decompressed before it can be restored. The problem with data compression is that all to often the compression routines compress the data into a single very large file. If for some reason there is a problem with the decompression routine it is very likely that none of the data will be able to be retrieved. It is usually an all or nothing situation. My advice to paraphrase a great Canadian PM is: �Compression if necessary but not necessarily compression.�  Use it if you must, but if you can avoid it do so.

Disk spanning is a bit the same, but involves multiple disks. In many cases if these is a problem with any single disk in the backup set then restoration of the data is unlikely.

As a rule of thumb I like data saved in as generic a format as possible because it is easier to retrieve this way. Data backup up by �backup software� is often stored in a proprietary format. To restore that data requires that the backup application first be loaded before the data can be seen by the computer as data.

Data that is stored as standard files on backup media can be viewed easily which means it is easier to check the backup to make sure you have actually backed something up and accessed easily. Consider the two scenarios.

1) Backup to DVD using backup software that came in the box with the DVD burner. The back is compressed to a single file on the DVD. To access a single file on this DVD the restore must be done on the same computer or the backup software needs to be loaded on another computer. By the way do you remember where that disk is? It is not unusual that the software must be the exact same version of the software so you will need to be able to find the original CD that came with the drive.

2) Backup to DVD using standard burning software. The files are copies of the data files on the hard drive and exist as individual files on the backup DVD. To access a single file all you need to do is to put the disk in the drive and copy the file using copy and paste in Windows Explorer. Did I forget to mention that you could also access and copy this file on any computer that is running Windows and that has a DVD drive.

Which sounds easier?

What is the difference between data and programs.

In the old days many people took the position that they would just backup everything because then they would not have to worry about missing something. This is not very practical in today�s world because of the size of  hard drives in systems today. The practicality of backing up your computer�s operating system and the installed program base is dubious. There is a type of backup program that can accomplish this, they are know generically as imaging programs. This type of program will create an image of all of the files on your hard drive and store that image on backup media. How big the image is depends on how much you have on your hard drive.

Besides the possible extreme size other issues are: the possibility of restoring a single file, the issue of historical backups, how many of these large images are you going to create and store, time to make the backup.

In terms of practical benefit I don�t think that backing up the OS and program base is very important. I can think of many situations where even if these backups are available, the operating system and program would been to be installed from the original disks anyway.

No matter if you use imaging software or not, I do not think that in many cases you would not need to implement separate data backups also.


Have a Strategy!

It is vital that you have a backup strategy. What the strategy is, is much less important that having a strategy in the first place. Any Strategy is better than no strategy.

Backup daily, backup weekly, backup once a month. The difference is the value of the data, the frequency that it changes. Bookkeeping for a business might require daily backups. Trying to re-create a couple of months worth of accounting data by crawling through filing cabinets of receipts and invoice is a nightmare that has to be lived through to be appreciated.

Don�t get caught, be the exception to the rule. Backup the stuff on your computer that is important to you.


� Glenn Tooth, 2007 All rights reserved