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ShareOf Backups and Archives
Posted by Howard Marks on May 21, 2009
We all have words or phrases that make our blood boil. For me, "That's the way we've always done it" is near the top of my list. Of course, it really means I don't have a good reason for why we do things that way. In the 25 years I've been an independent consultant (which really means change agent), I've lost count of the times I've been hired to help an organization clean up some process only to hear "that's the way we've always done it" as if historical precedent should be the primary driver of the planning process.
So let me say once and for all -- the time has come for us all to stop holding backup tapes for years at a time and pretending they're an archive. While old DLT7000, or even worse, DDS tapes at Iron Mountain may meet the legal definition of retention they don't make a useful archive.
The existential difference between backup repositories and archives isn't the media they use or the hardware they're built on but their purpose. As a writer I find this clear in the language we use to describe the process of getting data from each type of data store.
We make backups in order to restore things like servers, databases, file systems, mailboxes or even individual files or email messages to their previous condition should they be lost, damaged, deleted or corrupted. Restores, in general, return things to their original place and condition so they can be used for their original purpose.
Archives on the other hand exist so data can be retrieved. Once retrieved that data is usually used in a different way than when it was originally created. Emails can be restored to be answered or acted on, or they can be retrieved to settle an argument, legal or otherwise.
Comment by RB on May 21, 2009 1:47 PM
This was a good refresher and brought back the clarity betn Bkp and Archive that I one had few years back. The tools for each are evolving so fast , it gives a blurred vision of the real distinction.
great article.
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Comment by Alani Kuye on May 21, 2009 7:21 PM
Great article! It's very important to bolden the line between backup and archiving as both are very different. Especially those who assume a tape backup library serves as both backup and archival solutions........in an attempt to "kill two birds with one stone". In this case kill backups and archiving problems with your tape library.
Speaking of Tape...who still uses tape in an archival (even backup) capacity? We should talk about optical storage next time, I will keep an eye out.
Alani Kuye
Phantom Data Systems Inc.
Norwalk, CT
www.phantomdatasystems.com/opticalstorage.html
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