Hi guys. I'm new to this and have a question. I am doing 5 day differential backups with a full on Friday. (mostly SQL databases) I'm going to use 4 sets of tapes (one set for each week of the month) The first set is finished today. My question is, How do I keep copies of the tapes for restore? What is a good retention policy? Do i pull the full friday from each week, keep it offline and replace that with a fresh tape? Do i keep the whole set so i can restore from any day? For example, sometimes a developer will ask me "can you restore the database from tuesday at 6:00" I get the concept of rotation, I'm just not understanding how I would pull media out of those sets for recovery. Thanks in advance.
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Backup Strategy Help Please
- Thread starter gmagerr
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davidmichel
Technical User
The right answer is what is right for you. Sorry it does not seem like much help but we do not know what goes on at your company. If in six months that developer will ask for that same database then you need to keep tapes for that long, and that will add up to a lot of money in tapes.
Usually users only need the latest version of a file, but not always. I worked with a graphic house that needed ever version of every picture saved for ever. It all depends on the needs for your place.
Oh and by the way if they expect to be able to pick a version of a file down to a specific hour of a specific day that mean backups will have to run hourly. Now you are really taking about a lot of tapes. Think of how will you boss feel about being asked for a couple of grand for more tapes.
Sit with your manager or the managers from the different departments and ask them what they need.
Usually users only need the latest version of a file, but not always. I worked with a graphic house that needed ever version of every picture saved for ever. It all depends on the needs for your place.
Oh and by the way if they expect to be able to pick a version of a file down to a specific hour of a specific day that mean backups will have to run hourly. Now you are really taking about a lot of tapes. Think of how will you boss feel about being asked for a couple of grand for more tapes.
Sit with your manager or the managers from the different departments and ask them what they need.
davidmichel is right when he says "what is right for you".
You will probably find that it's going to be a compromise between the developers' requests and the costs involved. A developer's problem is "I need this file restored from this time" and they're not that concerned with exactly how it happens. If that's down to a granularity of one hour then it'll cost.
Get everyone involved to tell you what they'd like and then cost it up and you might well find their requirements become somewhat less exacting as soon as you ask the question "Whose budget does this come out of?"
Also, don't forget to add in other factors than just the tapes. Do you want to keep the tapes in a fire-proof safe? (Good idea!) Are you going to pay for an off-site storage facility and the courier service to move weekly/monthly tapes back & forth?
Remember, you can replace everything except the data!
This is getting into disaster recovery planning, but it's still worth asking the questions. And it shows the managers you're thinking of the big picture.
For a quick guide on different strategies you could read
You will probably find that it's going to be a compromise between the developers' requests and the costs involved. A developer's problem is "I need this file restored from this time" and they're not that concerned with exactly how it happens. If that's down to a granularity of one hour then it'll cost.
Get everyone involved to tell you what they'd like and then cost it up and you might well find their requirements become somewhat less exacting as soon as you ask the question "Whose budget does this come out of?"
Also, don't forget to add in other factors than just the tapes. Do you want to keep the tapes in a fire-proof safe? (Good idea!) Are you going to pay for an off-site storage facility and the courier service to move weekly/monthly tapes back & forth?
Remember, you can replace everything except the data!
This is getting into disaster recovery planning, but it's still worth asking the questions. And it shows the managers you're thinking of the big picture.
For a quick guide on different strategies you could read
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