Server Backup Procedures
Other People Are Reading
-
The Basic Procedure
-
Backups of servers and user computers work the same way. The information on the disk gets copied to another magnetic medium. Magnetic cassette tapes work best for backing up large amounts of data. System administrators set the backup programs in use to run backups of system data every so often. User data gets stored daily on such tapes. Backups of the entire system might be done on a weekly or monthly basis.
-
Image Ghosting
-
Backup programs often create a ghost image of the hard drive being backed up. Ghost images are compressed files that contain all of the data on a hard drive. The primary advantage of using ghost images over a straight backup of data is that compressed files save more space and allow the process to include more disk space. The data compression causes this to take more time than a straight copy of the files on the server.
Direct Copy Method
-
Another commonly used server backup procedure involves copying the files from the hard drives to the magnetic tape or other medium used to back up server data. This method uses more space on the backup medium than ghosting but causes fewer problems. Because the direct copy method does not use data compression, there is no chance of a user losing data because of compression error.
Windows System Restore
-
Windows has its own backup utility that a system administrator or a user can use to keep information on the hard drive. Windows also lets users create a restore point that permits users to restore earlier data if something happens to the current configuration. A system restore returns the computer's settings and programs to setup of the computer when the user had set up a restore point. System restore does not reinstall applications added after the restore point was set. The utility fixes problems caused by faulty software, and Microsoft did not include the functionality in the Windows operating system as a backup tool.
Unix and Linux .tar Files
-
Linux and Unix come with their own tools for performing server backup, but the most common method involves using the tar program to compress files and copying the .tar files to the backup medium. GUI, Command Line and text tools help Linux server administrators back up their data and their system files.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons Attribution License 2.5
