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