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The lure of open-source backup programs
This article is part of the Storage magazine issue of Vol. 7 No. 7 September 2008
Many people who use open-source backup software become quite attached to their program, whether it's BackupPC, Amanda or Bacula. System administrators responsible for protecting data at small- and medium-sized companies or at the departmental level typically gravitate to these free programs because they're comfortable writing custom scripts; working with Unix and Linux; and using open-source backup tools such as rsync, which synchronizes files and directories between different locations, and tar, an archiving program. Tony Schreiner, a Unix system administrator for biology and physics at Chestnut Hill, MA-based Boston College, has used Symantec's Veritas NetBackup and EMC's NetWorker, but moved to BackupPC because he wanted a free product. But, says Schreiner, "some very large files, greater than 50GB, never complete [their backup.]" He hasn't found a workaround yet except to exclude those files. "I don't have a good scheme for backing up SQL databases, some of which are very large," he adds. "I could script a mysqldump as a ...
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Features in this issue
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Are full backups a thing of the past?
In the not-so-distant past, we relied on tape backups for operational recovery, disaster recovery and long-term data retention. But are full nightly backups to tape still needed now that we have new disk-based technologies like snapshots and continuous data protection?
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Storage administrators find some relief for backup headaches
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Ask the Experts: RTOs and RPOs
Is there a standard ratio between RTOs and RPOs, or are they independent of each other?
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CDP in depth
Continuous data protection (CDP) technology is now a viable alternative to traditional backup software and storage system-based replication software. But CDP products can vary significantly, especially in the context of different storage architectures. Depending on specific environments, companies may have to evaluate very different criteria before settling on a CDP product.
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Disk-to-disk backup enticing in many forms: Survey Says
Disk-to-disk backup enticing in many forms
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Dedupe myths and methods
Exaggerated claims, rapidly changing technology and persistent myths make navigating the deduplication landscape treacherous. We list the top five dedupe myths and provide tips to help you get a deduplication product that fits your organization's needs at a competitive price.
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Small disks, big specs
Hard disk drives have been around for more than 50 years, but the technology is on the cusp of big changes--SAS, a shift to the 2.5-inch form factor and a steady increase in disk drive capacity--that will affect enterprise storage for years to come.
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DAS revs up for a resurgence
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LTO top tape format by far: Survey says
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Ask the Expert: NFS vs. CIFS
What should you consider when choosing between Network File Sharing (NFS) or Common Internet File System (CIFS)?
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Centralize virtualization at the switch
There are a number of ways you can virtualize your storage, but because a switch-based virtualization engine works out-of-band, there's no need for server agents, making it the most scalable and highest performing of all virtualization architectures.
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Price of SAS drives dips
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Virtual server backup tips
Virtualized servers yield many benefits, but they can also add complexity to backup operations. There are three main ways to back up a virtual server. Here's how to determine which method is best for your virtualized server environment and storage requirements.
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What storage product would you like to see on the market that isn't now?
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Quality Awards IV: On top again: CommVault Galaxy, EMC Retrospect
CommVault's Galaxy solidified its position as the top enterprise backup product by finishing first for the third time in the four years we've conducted the Quality Awards. Among the midrange products, EMC Retrospect retained its crown as group champion.
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Our View: When good admins go bad
Columns in this issue
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Gen2 virtual tape libraries: Hot Spots
From disaster recovery to capacity optimization and dedupe, the next phase of VTL products promises change.
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Backup by the numbers: Backup Purchasing
Results from Storage magazine's most recent Purchasing Intentions survey reveal that respondents will have to expand or alter their backup systems to protect ever-growing data stores.
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Break those backup bottlenecks: Best Practices
Backup performance tuning is an art, but identifying infrastructure bottlenecks is more of a strict mathematical exercise once you know the important numbers. And understanding the source of existing and potential bottlenecks makes it easier to find and resolve them.
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Coping with cloud storage: Editorial
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Don't get stuck with old backup ideas: Best Practices
The time has come to shed your traditional, compartmentalized view of backup and embrace a recovery-centric data management focus.
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Keep it simple, stupid: Part deux: Storage Bin 2.0
Are you one of those companies that leaves inactive data on the most expensive architecture and applies stringent (expensive) processes to that same data? If so, wise up!