Plan for Archive

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The first time the SMS backup task runs, it produces a backup snapshot, which you can use to recover your system in the event of a failure. When the backup task runs again during subsequent cycles, it creates a new backup snapshot that overwrites the previous snapshot. As a result, the site has only a single backup snapshot. This can be risky because an earlier backup snapshot won't be available if you need it. It is recommended that you archive the backup snapshot and store the archive in a safe place. It is also important to archive multiple backup snapshots for the following reasons:

  • It is common for media to fail, get misplaced, or have only a partial backup stored on it. Recovering a failed site from an older backup is better than recovering with no backup at all.

  • A corruption in the site can go undetected for several backup cycles. The SMS administrator must be able to go back several cycles and use the site backup snapshot before the corruption started.

  • The site might have no backup snapshot at all, if, for example, the Backup SMS Site Server task fails. Because the backup task removes the previous backup snapshot before it starts to back up the current data, there will not be a valid backup snapshot.

An effective archive plan must meet the following criteria:

  • It must include an archive plan for every site in the hierarchy.

  • You must be able to quickly retrieve the most recent backup snapshot from the archive location.

  • The archive plan of the entire hierarchy must be cost effective for your organization.

To develop an effective archive strategy for your site, you must make the following decisions:

  • Which equipment will you use to archive backup snapshots, tape drives or CD-ROM burners?

  • Is there adequate capacity in the link between the backup snapshot destination drive and the archive drive?

Important:

  • The SMS backup task does not validate the data that it transmits over the network when backing up the site to a remote backup destination. However, when archiving the backup snapshot from the local site to a remote location, data validity checking can be incorporated to ensure that the archived backup snapshot is valid.

  • This is strongly recommended in configurations with low quality network between the backup destination and the archive location (if the connection fails more than once a month.)

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