How Backups Can Save Your Life (Or Just Your Data)

• 05 September 2016
• in: Uncategorized

We all store media on our computers; photos, videos and everything that has been captured from the private moments in our lives. Imagine that one day you try to start your computer and it doesn’t turn on, well if your disk is still operating, you can retrieve your data back using some techniques.

 

However, what if your disk is totally destroyed? Think about losing those memories forever, photos videos and data from your personal life, do you think that is bad? Now imagine you have a big company and you are responsible for the company’s data and something goes wrong and one moment to next the data is no longer there. Would you like to jump from the balcony? You don’t have to! There is a way to save your life, using something called BACKUPS.

 

There are many reasons that a company needs to make backups: a computer virus could affect your data, you could delete data by accident, or connection problems could cause files to become corrupted etc.

 

A company can back up data using big enterprise server’s software and techniques can vary depending on the requirements. For your home computer and personal data there are a number of free software programmes that can help you and for businesses there is also a range of paid-for software that can keep company’s critical data backed up.

 

As well as these files on a computer there are also Linux files and other things required to be backed up and these can also be protected: SQL databases, Active Directory Databases, Oracle VM, Citrix XenServer backups, HyperV, Exchange Server backups, VMware backups and more.

There are 3 types of backups: Full Backups, Differential Backups and Incremental Backups:

 

1) Full backups are the most common and comprehensive type of backup operation. It makes a full backup of the data as and when you configure it. However the disadvantage of this type is the length of time the procedure takes to complete the backup, but taking full backups is essential to be carried out on a regular basis.

 

2) Differential backups compare to the full backups with the time stamps in order to identify any disparities so that only files which are different from those in the full backup are backed up.

 

3) Incremental backup compares to the full backups the first time it is run in the same way as the differential backup, however any subsequent time it compares the previous copy of the last backup taken and backs up any files which have changed.

 

Backups are often scheduled and backed up into NAS or SAS. Full backups are completed either on a weekly or monthly basis and incremental or differential on a daily basis. Additionally, you can store your backup on external disks, cloud servers or other servers in order to be fully confident to never lose any data as a result of a disaster happening with the NAS, SAS etc.

There are many different companies that offer backup services, from home products to enterprise backup solutions.

Here is a list from Wikipedia regarding the proprietary backup software with the package and the publisher.

 

 

Package	Publisher	Version for Windows	Version for Mac OS	Version for Linux	Graphical user interface	Continuous Data Protection
@MAX SyncUp	@MAX software	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Acronis True Image	Acronis	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Aomei Backupper	Aomei Tech	Yes	No	No	Yes
Argentum Backup	Argentum Software	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Backup4all	Softland	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
BackupAssist	Cortex IT Labs	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Backup Exec	Veritas Software	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Catalogic DPX	Catalogic Software	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bitser	Bitser	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Bvckup 2	Pipemetrics SA	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
ChronoSync	Econ Technologies	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Argentum Backup	Argentum Software	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Comodo Backup	Comodo Group	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Crashplan	Code42	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dmailer Backup	Dmailer	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Double Image Backup	Host Interface International	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Druva InSync	Druva Software	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
EMC NetWorker	EMC Corporation	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Genie Backup Manager	Genie-Soft	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Handy Backup	Novosoft LLC	Yes	No	Yes [3]	Yes	No
HP Data Protector	HP Software & Solutions	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
IASO Backup	IASO Backup	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
IBM Tivoli Storage Manager	IBM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
InMage DR-Scout	InMage	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Image for Windows	TeraByte Unlimited	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Iperius Backup	Enter Srl	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
KeepVault	KeepVault	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	Yes
Langmeier Backup	Langmeier Software	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
LazySave	LazySave	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
.Mac Backup aka MobileMe	Apple Inc.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Memopal	Memopal	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mozy	Mozy / EMC	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
NetVault Backup	Dell	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Novabackup	NovaStor	Yes	No	Partial	Yes	No
NTBackup	Microsoft	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
NetBackup	Veritas Software	Yes	Yes[4]	Yes	Yes	Yes
Norton 360	Symantec	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Norton Ghost	Symantec	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
EMC RecoverPoint	EMC Corporation	Yes	No?	No?	Yes	Yes
Retrospect	Retrospect Inc	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ShadowProtect	StorageCraft	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
System Center Data Protection Manager	Microsoft	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
SpiderOak	SpiderOak	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
SyncBack	2BrightSparks	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
SyncToy	Microsoft	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Time Machine	Apple Inc.	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Tonido Backup	CodeLathe	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
TotalRecovery Pro	FarStone Technology	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
UltraBac	UltraBac Software	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Home Server Computer Backup	Microsoft	Yes	Yes[5]	No	Yes	No
Windows Backup and Restore	Microsoft	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Yosemite Server Backup	Barracuda Networks	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No

 

There are various data encryption methods that can be used in the event that our data is stolen to prevent data from recovery. Only when the user has the encryption key can this then decrypt the data; there are some encryption methods that are almost impossible to be cracked, such as the 256 AES encryption.

 

Data recovery methods are really powerful, and once you have successfully recovered the data, all NTFS permissions and timestamps will be restored identically to before the files were corrupted.

 

With backups you can have peace of mind that all your data files, sql databases and any other critical data you have is safe and fully secured.