Removable Storage and Backup

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When you develop your backup plan, keep the following in mind:

  • Be sure you have spare hardware and cartridges on hand in case of a failure.

  • Test backed-up data regularly to verify the reliability of your backup procedures and equipment.

  • Include stress testing of backup hardware (storage drives, optical drives, and controllers) and software (backup program and device drivers).

There is a range of system configurations that can affect your backup strategies. At one end of the range is a simple, stand-alone computer with one user. At the other is a workgroup network with a computer that is hosting a network public file share.

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Caution

Backup does not back up files on computers that are running MS-DOS. Consider reserving some space on a network share so that users of MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows version 3.1 can copy important files. After these files are on the network share, they can be backed up during regular file server backups.

You can work out a backup solution by following these four steps:

  1. Research and select a device on which to record your backups. When considering new backup hardware, be sure to consider its reliability, speed, capacity, cost, and compatibility with Windows 2000. The cartridges should provide more than enough space to back up all of your data.

  2. If necessary, install a controller card in the computer. If you choose to use a SCSI-based tape drive, put the tape drive on its own controller.

  3. Connect your new backup drive to the computer so that you can back up the System State data. If you are using an external SCSI drive, start the drive before you start the computer so that the driver can be loaded properly.

  4. Establish a backup cartridge rotation schedule. You need to continue making backups as long as data is created or changed.

Over a period of time, you should use several separate disks or tapes when you run your backup regimen. By using multiple disks or tapes instead of repeatedly using the same disk or tape, you gain additional benefits with your backup program:

  • It preserves access to multiple versions of data files in case a user needs to restore an older copy of a data file.

  • If the last backup fails as a result of a bad cartridge, you have a backup from the previous process.

  • You extend the useful life span of each cartridge.

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Tip

Have several extra, new, blank, formatted media available in case of cartridge failure. Regularly scan the Backup log for errors that might indicate that a backup cartridge is beginning to fail.

Be sure to clean a tape drives recording heads regularly. Failure to do so can lead to unusable backups and the premature failure of the tape drive. See the tape drive manufacturers recommendations for the proper method and frequency of cleaning.