URL: http://www.onenw.org/toolkit/backup.html
Backing Up Your Data
This document outlines the hardware, software and procedures
necessary to effectively and efficiently back up the key data from
your computers. It includes hardware recommendations, software
recommendations, and suggested tips on what specific items on your
hard drive you most need to back up.
As the conservation movement's use of computers increases, so does the
importance of making regular backups of your key data. How effective
would you be if your email, word processing documents and contact
database were wiped out? How many hours would it take to rebuild that
information from scratch?
Backing up your data regularly is vital insurance against a "data
catastrophe." Unfortunately, this is a lesson that most people learn
only from bitter experience. Developing a solid backup plan requires
some investment of time and money, but the cost is far less than the
often-impossible task of recreating data for which no backup exists!
What to Back Up
There are two main strategies for backing up your data. The first
strategy is to back up everything on each hard drive. This provides a
very high level of security. For smaller offices and machines with
smaller hard drives, this isn't too dramatic. However, hard disk sizes
(and file sizes) have been mushrooming in recent months, and for
larger offices or organizations with lots of data, backing up
everything can be an expensive and time-consuming proposition.
However, backing up your entire hard disk means that if you ever have
a crash, you can restore the entire contents of the drive in one easy
process.
For typical users, most of the data on your hard disk consists of
operating system files and major applications. These files are
restorable from CD, especially on the Mac, and most of the time, it's
not absolutely necessary to back them up. At a practical level,
backing up your email files, word processor files, databases, web
bookmarks, and any other files you directly create will provide you
with sufficient backups to make recovery possible in the event of a
crash.
Specific Items to back up
Macintosh
You should create a single folder (with subfolders) to store all of
your data files: word processor files, spreadsheets, etc. This is the
most important item to back up, as it contains information that is
literally irreplaceable. Other items to back up include:
* Your email files. You should determine where your email program
stores your email. (If you're using Eudora, you'll find your mail
files in a folder called "Eudora Folder," which is generally
located in your System Folder.)
* The Preferences folder in your System Folder. This is where all of
your applications store their settings. If you use Netscape, your
web bookmarks are also in here. Backing up this folder can save
you a lot of trouble when you reinstall your application software.
Windows 95/98
* The My Documents folder. This is where we recommend that you store
all of the files you create: word processor, spreadsheet,
database, etc. This is the single most important item to back up.
* The Windows folder. This contains the Windows 95 operating system,
the Windows Registry, and all of the additional drivers and
configuration information required to support the hardware and
software you've installed. Your email files may be stored in here
as well.
Storing Your Backups
It's a good idea to make two sets of backups-one "live" set that you
have available in your office, and one set that you store in a secure
off-site location such as a safety-deposit box. You should rotate the
backups every week, so that you have a recent backup that is protected
against fire, theft or some other localized disaster. Several
Northwest conservation groups have had their offices burgled in recent
years. Routine off-site backups can help insure you against the loss
of irreplaceable data.
Backup Hardware and Software Recommendations
Hardware Overview
This table summarizes some of the leading choices for backup hardware.
Use it as a guide to help you select the hardware that best fits your
organization's size, budget and backup needs.
Device Hardware Cost Media Type/ Capacity Media Cost Notes
Iomega Zip $140 external, $100 internal Magnetic disk/
100 MB $15 Small media. Adequate for document backups or older system
backups. Recommend SCSI or Internal IDE model for better performance
Imation SuperDisk $150 Magnetic disk/
120 MB Relatively small media size. Drive can also read standard
floppy disks.
DAT DDS-2 format tape drive $700-1000 internal or external SCSI Tape/
2-4 GB $4-15 Low-end DAT format. Fast for tape, very cheap media.
Costly hardware. Good for big systems.
Travan TR-4 format tape drive $300-500
internal or external, SCSI or parallel models
Tape cartridge/
4-8 GB $30 Popular tape format. Slower than DAT, but inexpensive.
Iomega Jaz $299 internal, $399 external
plus $80 JazJet or other SCSI adapter for PCs
Removable drive /
1 GB $125 First high-capacity removable product. Very popular, and
widely used by service bureaus. Expensive.
Iomega Jaz 2 GB $550 internal, $650 external,
plus SCSI adapter for PCs
Removable drive /
2 GB $170 New update to Jaz technology. Expensive.
Castlewood Orb $200 (est) 2.2 GB $30 (est) Promising, but not
available yet. Potentially very inexpensive and fast.
As you can see, there are lots of choices for backup hardware (and
quite a few more that we didn't list here). The removable drive
products are very fast, and generally less expensive to buy, but their
media are quite sophisticated and thus relatively expensive. If you
have lots of workstations (or lots of data) to back up, the cost of
media may be prohibitive. This is the advantage of DAT drives; DAT
tapes are inexpensive, making DAT the only practical choice for doing
complete backups of several machines.
Sample Backup Scenarios
We'll provide three backup scenarios appropriate to single or several
standalone users, a small (3-7 person) network, and a larger office
network.
Single or several standalone users
Who: a single user, or several people who are in the same office, but
do not have a local area network (LAN) connecting their machines.
Hardware:
The Iomega Zip drive. The Zip drive is an inexpensive ($150), easy to
use drive that uses $15, 100 MB cartridges. The PC versions of the
Zip attaches to your computer's parallel (printer) port, and the Mac
versions attach to your machine's SCSI port. There is also a "Zip
Plus" model available that can attach to either a parallel or SCSI
port. The advantages of the Zip drive are that it is easy to attach to
several different computers, uses relatively inexpensive media, and
holds enough data to easily back up most people's personal files. The
SCSI and Internal IDE models are fairly quick, the external PC
parallel port models a little slower.
Something else to consider is the fact that the Zip has been around
for a while and has become something of standard in the low-end
removable-media market. Many print service bureaus use Zip media to
transfer/receive large desktop publishing files. If you need to
exchange files with other people this way, the Zip might be a good
choice. On the other hand, Iomega has garnered a reputation for shoddy
customer support, and some people have experienced quality problems
with Zip drives resulting in damaged disks and lost data.
Software:
Macintosh: We recommend that you store all of your personal files in a
single master folder and back that entire folder up each week by
simply copying the file to your Zip drive. If you'd prefer to automate
the process, or want the added security of backing up your entire hard
disk, we recommend Retrospect Express ($50), from Dantz. Retrospect
Express is a simple, inexpensive and powerful backup program that
should meet all the needs of a single user or small offic network.
PC: We recommend using Seagate Backup Exec for Windows 95 or Seagate
Windows 98 Backup ($50). Seagate Backup is a powerful and easy to use
backup program that will help you manage your backups quite
effectively.
Small Office Backups
Who:
A 3-7 person office with computers that are connected by an Ethernet
LAN.
Hardware:
Macintosh: A high-capacity removable such as the Iomega Jaz, or the
forthcoming Castlewood Orb drive. These drives use removable
cartridges with capacities ranging from 1-2.1 GB, and connect to your
computer via the SCSI port. Cartridges cost $80-$100 (but the Orb
promises $30 2.1 GB cartridges, which would be a great deal!). These
drives are very fast, and can store much more information per
cartridge than the Zip drive. However, they cannot compete with the
high storage capacity of tape backups (but are much faster and more
convenient to use).
You can also go the tape backup route with a Travan TR 4 format tape
drive. Although slower than disk-based drives, tapes are relatively
cheap and have large storage capacities.
PC: PC users can choose between the Iomega Jaz, or the forthcoming
Castlewood Orb. These drives connect internally to your EIDE (hard
drive) card, or to an added SCSI card.
A Travan TR 4 tape drive would also be a reasonable choice.
Software:
Macintosh: Retrospect Express
PC: Seagate Backup Exec or Windows 98 Backup
Large Office
Who:
Offices with more than 7 workstations, connected via an Ethernet LAN
Hardware:
Macintosh and PC: Travan TR 4 format tape drive. Tape drives are the
backup media of choice for networks larger than 5-7 workstations.
Although tape drives are slower than removable-cartridge hard drives,
their media (tapes) is far cheaper than removable hard disk
cartridges, making them the only affordable solution that allows
multi-gigabyte backups. A typical Travan TR4 format drive costs about
$500 and can store up to 8 GB of compressed data on a single tape.
Tapes cost about $30 each.
Another feasible choice for larger organizations is a DAT DDS-2 format
tape drive. Although these drives are more expensive to purchase,
typically in the $700-1000 range, their media (4mm DAT) are extremely
inexpensive ($5-7 for a 4 GB cartridge), making DAT a very
cost-effective choice for doing regular full backups of all machines
in a network.
Software:
Macintosh: Retrospect Network Kit (usually bundled with drive).
PC: Seagate Backup Exec or software bundled with drive
6 Key Backup Tips
1. Develop a backup plan
At a minimum, plan to back up daily using removable media.
Rotate backup sets offsite weekly.
2. Automate your backups
Get a backup device that holds at least as much as your hard
disk so you can schedule backups for times when you're not
there without having to swap media.
3. Back up every hard disk
Every hard disk contains critical data so don't just back up
servers. Make sure you include your laptops!
4. Back up more than just documents
Don't limit backups to just certain files - you'll inevitably
need one that wasn't backed up. Good backup software only backs
up files that are new or modified.
5. Keep a back up set offsite
You never know when a fire, flood, theft, or earthquake makes
your offsite copy your only copy. One idea: create a backup set
weekly and send the previous week's backup to a secure offsite
location.
6. Verify your backup
You need confidence in your backups. Make sure your backup
software has full read-back verification. Try restoring a few
files yourself, just in case.
For more information
Hardware
Iomega products (Zip & Jaz): http://www.iomega.com/
Castlewood Orb: http://www.castlewoodsystems.com/
The Seagate TapeStor 8000 is a popular Travan TR-4 tape drive.
http://www.seagate.com/tape/tapetrav.shtml
Software
Retrospect Network Kit: http://www.dantz.com/
Retrospect Express: http://www.dantz.com/sp/808.html
Seagate Backup Exec (Windows 95):
http://www.seagatesoftware.com/bewin95/
Seagate Windows 98 Backup:
http://www.seagatesoftware.com/buy/win98b/newanimation/template/index.
html
03/15/99
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