Backup policies

[Paolo]

How do you backup your files ?

I have scheduled 4 backups every day.

Backups 1 and 3 are made on directory A.

Backups 2 and 4 are made on directory B.

A and B reside on different drives on the same machine.

Sometimes (1 or 2 times a week) I copy dir. A into an archive of dated backups.

Is this a good backup policy?

[LiveOak]

As a general rule you should backup as often as the data you can afford to lose. If you can afford to lose a week's worth of data, once a week is fine. If you can affort to lose only 2 hours worth, backup every 2 hours.

Two other issues arise. What if records are deleted and you don't notice it for two weeks and you have overwritten your previous backups? What if the whole facility burns down or the server is stolen?

What we have gone to is to burn a CDR once a day (automatic, AppleScripted). Backups are also stored off-site (all your eggs in one basket?). Think of the impact of a commodities broker with $30 Billion in investments to track. Oh, and located in the World Trade Center! These types of companies had vendors pickup backup tapes every two hours for storage in remote, secure sites.

Restoration is also important. The company above kept a staffed, duplicate computer facility on standby in another location, just to deal with some sort of disaster.

So:

1) Pick an appropriate backup interval

2) Use media fire safes for on-site backup storage

3) Make archival copies you keep for ever

4) Use off-site, secure storage

5) Have a recovery strategy

-bd

[Paolo]

very interesting,

thank you!

but it seem to me that a lot could be done just doing a backup (or copying backup files) over the network (let's say using ftp) in a remote computer in a safe location.

[Guest]

Is this a good backup policy?

Paolo... You need to have encrypted off site storage and cummulative backups, not overwrite backups. You also need site security such as locked server closets. Theft of the server, fire or water damage must be considered. No backup policy is complete, until you have physically proven that you can restore from backup media.

Regards.

[LiveOak]

This can be a good approach, just don't forget the archival copies.

-bd

[macguys]

I do two other kinds of backups. I always burn a clone of any new version of a table I install. That lives off-site. I also periodically export all the records from each table and write them to tape, a CDR or an external FW hard drive depending on the installation.

Dave