Taking Care of Your Backup Media

Most of the data storage devices are prone to failure that may result in disastrous repercussions for the end users.

Backup seems to be the only remedy against data disasters. Today backup happens to be a vital and important aspect of the business strategy and planning of a majority of big and small businesses. Institutions and organizations prefer to meticulously back up their mission critical data as a precaution against data disasters occurring due to a variety of technical, man-made and natural causes.

Expectations from a Good Backup Media

A genuine backup media needs to fulfil certain criteria so as to be accepted as a popular and preferred choice. A good backup media should be reliable, easily accessible, user-friendly and fast. It should have a long shelf-life and should be resistant to wear and tear and rough handling. High speed happens to be the most sought after trait in a backup device.

A popular backup device should be easily available in the market at a reasonable price. It should be easy to use and should not demand any special knowledge and expertise on the part of the end user. Moreover, a pragmatic backup choice should be highly compatible with the existing hardware.

Choice of Backup Media

Choice of a backup media depends upon a lot of factors such as the importance and cost of the data that is to be backed up, quantity of data to be backed up, budgetary considerations, compatibility with the existing hardware, reasons for which the data is to be backed up, length of time for which the data is to be preserved, portability, hardiness and accessibility. Most of the backup media being mechanical and electronic devices need to be taken care of so as to prolong their life.

Various Types of Backup Media

1. Tape

Magnetic tapes happen to be the most preferred media for network backups. They offer the lowest cost per gigabyte of storage as compared to any other media. However, they do not provide random access to data and need to be rewound and fast forwarded to retrieve data. Thus they happen to be very slow. Tapes are physically most fragile as compared to other media and are highly sensitive to heat and dust. Tape reels and cassettes should be stored in a clean environment to prevent contamination. Exposure to heat and strong magnetic fields needs to be avoided.

2. Hard Drives

Hard drives are not only the primary storage media in all types of computers, but are also extensively used for backup purposes. They not only provide random access to data, but offer significant speed as compared to other storage media. Hard drives can be used as RAID arrays to maximize efficiency and performance. Though they are not so fragile, yet they are prone to failure because of being mechanical devices. Hard drives should be handled with care to avoid mechanical failures. Relevant antivirus software needs to be installed to avoid crashes and failure. Hard drives should be protected against overheating and must be placed in clean, cool and dry areas.

3. Optical Media

In a way, optical discs stand to be the most secure backup media. They have a high tolerance for heat and the data stored on them is not vulnerable to electrical and magnetic disruptions. If stored and handled carefully, they happen to have a long life span. Optical disks are very slow as compared to fixed backup media such as hard drives. They have a relatively limited storage capacity and are not suitable for server and network backups. Optical discs are ideal for archival purposes. They should be handled with care and must be stored in a protective covering, when not in use. It is vital to store optical discs in a cool, dark and dry environment, so as to increase their shelf-life.

4. USB Flash Drives

Currently, USB flash drives are becoming popular as a backup media because of their reasonable cost, high capacity, speed, portability and compatibility with most of the computers. They offer random access to data like a hard drive. At present, they have a storage capacity of up to 2GB. They are ideal for transporting data from one place to another. Though hardy, flash drives are prone to theft and loss because of their small size.

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