Tips

Tips

• Common data backup error messages

  It is important to understand backup software error messages. Here's an overview of some of the most common ones and what you can do to solve your backup problems.  Continue Reading

• How to back up and restore a certificate store

  One type of server that is critical to back up is your enterprise certificate authority. If you lose your certificates, you lose data.  Continue Reading

• Data deduplication methods: Block-level versus byte-level dedupe

  Block-level and byte-level data deduplication methods deliver the benefit of optimizing storage capacity. When, where and how the processes work should be reviewed for your data backup environment and its specific requirements before selecting one ...  Continue Reading

• Using Dump for Linux/Unix data backup

  This article describes the major advantages and disadvantages of using dump to back up your data.  Continue Reading

• Top 10 things to ask a vendor when buying backup software

  Before you rush out to buy new data backup software, here are 10 questions you should ask potential backup vendors to help you decide what is best for your backup environment.  Continue Reading

• Backup vs. archive

  Data backups and archives are different things. Backup and recovery expert Pierre Dorion discusses the role of backups vs. archives and why you shouldn't mistake one for the other.  Continue Reading

• Benefits and drawbacks of incremental and differential backup

  The differences between incremental and differential backups continue to generate many debates and cause confusion. Read this tip to learn how incremental and differential backups differ, and the benefits, drawbacks and uses of each.  Continue Reading

• Ten things you should ask a vendor before buying a tape library

  Purchasing the right tape library can make or break your backup system. Here are 10 things you should ask any potential vendor before you purchase a new tape library.  Continue Reading

• Bare-metal backup and restore options

  This article looks at the different bare-metal restoration solutions and the pros and cons of each.  Continue Reading

• Data protection for financial organizations

  Protecting data is especially critical for financial institutions with large amounts of sensitive personal data. A variety of government regulations make this task especially onerous. Here are five ways storage administrators can ease their backup ...  Continue Reading

• Backup and recovery basics: Testing your backups

  All too often testing is the missing step in making backups. This tip explores how often you should be testing your backups and some things to look out for.  Continue Reading

• The pros and cons of file-level vs. block-level data deduplication technology

  Some data deduplication approaches operate at the file level, while others examine data at a block level. This tip explores advantages and disadvantages of each method.  Continue Reading

• The differences between block-based and file-based data backup

  This tip examines the differences between block-based and file-based data backup and will help you choose what's best for you.  Continue Reading

• Data backup options for remote sites

  Data backup for remote sites can be very challenging. But there are several new storage technologies, most notably data deduplication, that can facilitate remote office backup.  Continue Reading

• Data backup strategies: Migrating from tape to disk

  Here's a checklist of things you should consider before you make the transition from tape to disk for data backup.  Continue Reading

• Troubleshooting Microsoft Exchange data backup and restores

  There are many things that can go wrong when backing up and restoring Microsoft Exchange data. Here's a list of some of the most frequent problems and how to correct them.  Continue Reading

• How to choose the right tape library

  Choosing an expandable, modular tape library with sophisticated management features to support your enterprise can be difficult. Here's how to make the right choice.  Continue Reading

• Tips and tools for making the most of event log files

  Nearly every part of your system reports events can be logged. This tip discusses which events you should log and best practices for making sense out of that information once it is logged.  Continue Reading

• Data deletion or data destruction?

  It's often assumed that once data has been marked for disposal, it no longer requires much attention. But when data backups or archives are deleted, are they really gone?  Continue Reading

• The advantages of tape for data backup

  With the current focus on disk-based data backup technologies, tape seems to be an outmoded technology, but tape is not dead. Here's why.  Continue Reading

• The top 10 causes of slow data backups

  If your backups start to take longer, examine your system even if the backups are within your normal backup window. Here's a list of 10 things that may be slowing things down.  Continue Reading

• VTL 101: Integrating a virtual tape library into your backups

  A virtual tape library (VTL) is a disk array that mimics tape. In this tip, Rick Cook discusses the basics of Integrating VTLs into a small-midsized business (SMB) environment.  Continue Reading

• Choosing a removable hard disk drive for data backup and recovery

  Removable hard disk drives deliver the faster data backup and recovery times associated with storage systems used in enterprise SANs, but there are some drawbacks to using them.  Continue Reading

• Demystifying VMware data protection: VMware data replication methods

  Here's a look at the different types of data protection methods to consider when using VMware.  Continue Reading

• Top tape rotation strategies

  Here's a list of the most common tape rotation schemes used in data backup and the pros and cons of each.  Continue Reading

• The pros and cons of globally deduplicating data backup appliances

  Global data deduplication is a way for companies to achieve higher data reduction ratios, use less storage capacity and keep data online for longer periods of time.  Continue Reading

• Choosing a centralized data backup system

  For nearly every SMB, centralized backup can increase reliability as well as provide hardware and administrative cost savings. This tip discusses the choices for centralized backup and how to select an effective system based on your specific needs  Continue Reading

• Why you need a data backup reporting tool

  When backup reporting needs go beyond knowing what happened last night, it's probably time to start considering specialized data backup reporting tools.  Continue Reading

• Inline vs. post-processing deduplication appliances

  Choosing between appliances that do inline or post-processing data deduplication can be difficult. To help you decide between the competing approaches, here are some general guidelines that you can follow to select the appliance that provides the ...  Continue Reading

• Multiplexing data backup streams vs. disk for data backup

  Now that disk is being used as a primary backup target in more enterprise shops, companies need to reevaluate what role, if any, multiplexing should play in their future backup plans. Here are some questions to ask to help you decide if multiplexing...  Continue Reading

• Four ways to streamline your data backup process

  Are your data backup operations out of control? Here are four tips to help you streamline your data backup and recovery process.  Continue Reading

• The role of NAS in data backup

  The role of NAS in backup is changing. Here's a look at using NAS in your data backup operations and its future in the enterprise.  Continue Reading

• The cost of tape vs. disk data backup

  Here's how to determine the cost of disk vs. tape in your data backup environment.  Continue Reading

• What is electronic vaulting?

  Electronic vaulting usually fits between tape backup and disk mirroring as part of an overall data protection plan.  Continue Reading

• Five tips for creating a backup service-level agreement

  Learn how to write a backup service-level agreement that will keep the peace between IT and information users.  Continue Reading

• Learn how to back up virtual machines

  Learn two approaches to backing up virtual machines.  Continue Reading

• Troubleshooting automated tape libraries

  Between shared libraries, LAN free backups, HBAs, drivers and firmware, many things can cause an automated tape library to function unpredictably. Learn how to troubleshoot automated tape library problems.  Continue Reading

• What you need to know about LTO-4 tape

  This tip provides an overview of the Linear Tape-Open update to LTO-4, detailing its new features and what you need to consider before upgrading to LTO-4.  Continue Reading

• How to estimate your data deduplication ratio

  This tip details the factors that influence data deduplication ratio (the ratio of data before deduplication to the amount of data after deduplication), so you can estimate the data deduplication ratio you can reasonably expect to achieve.  Continue Reading

• How to destroy data on backup tapes

  This tip offers guidelines for destroying data on backup tapes, with information about degaussing, tape cartridge destruction, tape reuse and record keeping.  Continue Reading

• Implementing IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

  This four-part series of tips offers information that can help you decide if IBM's Tivoli Storage Manager is right for your environment and what you need to know before deploying the software.  Continue Reading

• How to estimate the lifespan of LTO tapes

  This tip outlines what you need to consider when estimating the lifespan of LTO tape. It's not as black and white as LTO tape manufacturers would like you to believe.  Continue Reading

• IBM Tivoli Storage Manager and disk backups

  This is the third of a four-part series on IBM's Tivoli Storage Manager disk backup software. This tip discusses integration of disk as a backup media in a TSM environment.  Continue Reading

• Backup best practices using IBM's Tivoli Storage Manager

  This is the second in a four-part series on IBM's TSM backup software. This segment outlines some of the best practices when designing and implementing a TSM backup environment.  Continue Reading

• In-band vs. out-of-band deduplication

  This tip compares and contrasts in-band and out-of-band deduplication and offers some pros and cons of each approach  Continue Reading

• IBM Tivoli Storage Manager vs. traditional backup

  Learn about the architectural concepts behind IBM's Tivoli Storage Manager backup software and the main differences with what are often referred to as "traditional" backup products. This piece is the first of a series of four on Tivoli Storage ...  Continue Reading

• Five musts for NetBackup restores

  Five tips for successful NetBackup restores are outlined in this tip.  Continue Reading

• Agent-based vs. agentless backup: Pros and cons

  Backup expert W. Curtis Preston discusses the pros and cons of agent-based backup software, such as TSM or Netvault, compared to an agentless backup product like Asigra.  Continue Reading

• Unreadable magnetic tapes: How to deal with tape errors

  Learn what you can do when you are faced with errors when trying to read your magnetic tapes.  Continue Reading

• Server-free, LAN-free or SAN-free backup: Which do you need?

  Learn whether server-free backup, LAN-free backup or SAN-free backup is best for your environment.  Continue Reading

• Hack your storage to test your security

  This tip outlines various security tests you can perform, along with tools you can use, to ethically hack your storage systems and uncover vulnerabilities you might not have discovered otherwise.  Continue Reading

• Speed backups by pruning data

  Setting policy about what types of files you back up, using e-mail archiving software and backing up applications separately from your data can drastically improve backup performance.  Continue Reading

• Best practices: Optimizing your backups

  Most organizations back up data one way or another nowadays -- but just how many do it well? This tip will show you some of the areas of backups you should consider optimizing.  Continue Reading

• Effective storage security policies

  We always hear about the importance of security policies, but just how they relate to storage security can be a bit unclear. In this tip, information security expert Kevin Beaver outlines essential policy creation processes along with specific ...  Continue Reading

• Archiving unstructured data

  Companies must find ways to automate and simplify the process of archiving files and e-mail messages. ECM software addresses this large pool of unstructured data.  Continue Reading

• Understanding snapshots and point-in-time copies

  This tip details how to perform time-based snapshots and point-in-time data protection, how these techniques differ and appropriate uses for each. (This tip is part of our Storage 101 tip series.)  Continue Reading

• Choosing a compliance archiving tool

  This Tech Roundup discusses how compliance archiving tools are used, how they are evolving and what the competitive landscape looks like.  Continue Reading

• Pros and cons of VTLs

  VTLs aren't perfect, and this tip outlines some caveats about the technology that you need to know before implementing a VTL.  Continue Reading

• Disk-based backup for SAN and NAS

  Disk-as-disk backups involve using disk drives behaving as disk drives -- the disks aren't pretending to be tape.  Continue Reading

• Pros and cons of disk-to-disk backup

  Some of the characteristics of disk-to-disk can make it a poor choice for your only form of backup.  Continue Reading

• Intro to backup audits

  This tip outlines the purpose and scope of backup audits, and what you can expect to get for your money.  Continue Reading

• How long does tape last, really?

  Fear of tape degradation has led many storage professionals to rewrite their critical tapes every year to keep data fresh.  Continue Reading

• Be wary of Shadow Copy limitations

  If you're dealing with shared folders, Shadow Copy can make your life easier. But it's not a complete backup solution.  Continue Reading

• The dirt on WORM tape

  In light of new compliance concerns, tape-based WORM can be an inexpensive alternative optical WORMs. This tip has more on this tape option.  Continue Reading

• 30 AS/400 backup tips in 30 minutes

  SearchStorage.com's sister site Search400.com posted these 30 AS/400 backup tips that should take you about 30 minutes to digest.  Continue Reading

• Find those missing LTO drives

  Where did they go?  Continue Reading

• Be careful with tape labels

  Bar code labels on tape cartridges can cause more trouble than you may think. Get the do's and don'ts of using bar code labels in this tip.  Continue Reading

• Availability, part 8: Avoid data corruption with hard mounts in NFS

  Soft mounts in NFS.  Continue Reading

• Eliminate unused space in datasets

  Clean up mainframe files to speed backups.  Continue Reading

• Time-tested TAN tip

  Ensuring high disk and tape performance via separate HBAs.  Continue Reading

• Deciding on electronic vaulting

  Pros and cons of electronic vaulting.  Continue Reading

• Sizing tape libraries

  Looking for a simple, practical way to estimate your tape needs? Here's a great user-submitted tip.  Continue Reading

• Considerations in choosing a backup tape drive

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• Tower of Hanoi backups

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