Data Backup
Data Backup is the process of copying data to a different location than the original one. The actual copy of the data is called data backup too. The purpose of data backup is to create additional copy of the existing data. Data backups are done as a safety precaution, in case the original data is damaged or inaccessible for some reason. If this happens the data can be restored from the data backup.
Making data backups can save a lot of trouble to any business using digital data, in the long run. Imagine what will happen if there is unrecoverable hard drive failure with the main database server used by a small software company. If the company doesn’t have a backup of the data on this server, then entire business is in jeopardy. If the company has a backup, the normal business processes will be disrupted for only several hours, until the server is restored from the data backup.
Data backups should be done on a regular basis, and the entire process should be fully automated. It is a good idea to keep more than of copy of your data backups. The multiple data copies should be kept at different physical locations and should be saved on a different media if possible. You need to regularly check if the data backups are readable, and replace them promptly if they are corrupted.
Data backups are done on various types of media, most common being magnetic tapes, hard disks, CDR-R, and DVD-R. Remote data backups done over a network are becoming increasingly popular lately.
Many software companies produce data backup software. Some of the most popular data backup products are Norton Ghost, Drive Image, and Veritas Backup Exec.
Doing data backups is a must for any business relaying on or using digital data.
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