Data Backup

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Running head: DISASTER BACKUP/DISASTER RECOVERY

Disaster Backup/Disaster Recovery
Deepika Ettem
Wilmington University

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DISASTER BACKUP/DISASTER RECOVERY

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Data Backup
Data backup is an activity of backing up those making different copies of the data
at regular intervals of time. Data backup is generally utilized at the time of data loss due
to the accidental issues that range from the computer virus to system failure or due to the
natural disasters (Little, 2003). If the data is related to the business data that the loss will
be in the form of commercial, customer, and business data, but if it is related to the
personal computer than the loss in the form of key files, pictures, etc replacing all these
will be a hard task (Nelson, 2011).
Whenever there is a plan of data backup then the some of the factors must be
considered like what data to backup, what compression method to be adopted, how often
should the data be backup, type of data backup should be used, media to store the
backups, security factors that are to be adopted for the backup (Preston, 2007). Generally,
data backup includes the data related to any work or data, which is hard to replace and the
thumb rule in that is complete system folders or programs must not backup. As programs
have to be reinstalled even after the backup and system folders can also be avoided
because they can be restored from the operating system (Little, 2003).
The best possible way that can be adopted for the purpose of compression of your
backup is by using the Zip files with as small as possible. While dealing with the highly
compressed files then a compression method with super fast or even no compression
method can be adopted which will result in the quicker creation of the Zip file backups
(Nelson, 2011). Generally, the frequency of data backup depends on the frequency with
which the data change, as when we consider business data that may change more
frequently it may require the hourly or daily backup (Preston, 2007).

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The best possible way that can be adopted for the purpose of storing backups is by
keeping a copy of backup file on-site and the other copy of backup in off-site in order to
face the natural disasters and even the accidental situations (Nelson, 2011). There are
various types of data backups that are given as,
1.
2.
3.
4.

Full backup.
Differential backup.
Incremental backup.
Continuous backup.
Full Backup A full backup is the most basic and the complete backup that include

every file or record of the organization. As the name implies, full backup works by
making a backup of the complete data is copied and transferred from one media to the
other media (Nelson, 2011). The main advantage of choosing the full backup is that all
the data is completely stored in a single set of media and also results in minimal time to
restore the data. The disadvantage with full backup is that it takes the long time to
perform the full backup when compared to the other backups (Preston, 2007). In order to
perform full backup, it requires more space for the storage when compared to the other
backups.
Incremental Backup. An incremental backup was introduced because of the
disadvantages that faced by adopting the full backup. Incremental backups work on
decreasing the amount of time that is spent on the backup by making the backup of the
data that is changed since the last backup (Little, 2003). The advantage of the incremental
backup is that it copies the data in smaller amounts than complete data at once, whereas
the disadvantage with this backup is that it is more time-consuming process in case of
restoring the backup (Preston, 2007).

DISASTER BACKUP/DISASTER RECOVERY

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Differential Backup. A differential backup generally initiates with the full
backup and the other backups after that incorporates only the data that is altered from the
backup. This backup is mostly related to the incremental data backup. The major
difference that can be observed between the differential and incremental is that
incremental backup generally incorporates the data that is altered from the last backup,
whereas a differential backup incorporates the data that is altered from the full backup
(Little, 2003). The advantage of differential backup is that it has less restoration time and
even its restoring process does not require more than two tape sets.
Continuous Backup. The continuous backup is a backup that generally records
all the system activities as all the data that is collected is captured from the real-time
situations. The main advantage with this backup is that data recovery is performed very
fast, whereas the disadvantage with this backup is that it is very expensive when
compared to the others backups (Preston, 2007).
Disaster Recovery
A disaster planning is a generally considered as the business continuity plan that
defines how the organization needs to face the situations that turn out to be a disasters,
which makes impossible for the continuation of the normal function of the organization.
A disaster recovery plan includes the steps that are to be taken in order to minimize the
effects of the disasters on the continuity of the business (Michael Wallace, 2011). This
helps the organization either to maintain or rapidly resumes functions that are processed
in order to support business continuity.
Disaster recovery is given as a significant factor in order to run the business
computing, as the devices, systems, and the networks become more complex. As it deals

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with more things that can ultimately go wrong and by this recovery plans have also
become more complex (Nelson, 2011). For a plan to be fully successful, it must be
created before facing any disaster situations. The main reason why the disaster recovery
plans to be developed is to maintain continuity in the funding, and the clients being
served (Michael Wallace, 2011).
Disaster preparedness and recovery plan should also include the employee
training that should address individual roles and responsibilities, information about
threats with protection actions, means for locating family members, emergency response
procedures and the shutdown procedures (Nelson, 2011). This disaster preparedness must
be built as a part of the organizational culture and even it must be included as a part of the
orientation session for the new employees (Preston, 2007).
Disaster plans generally vary from the organization to the organization, as it
depends on the various factors like type of business and the process involved. Disaster
plans can either be prepared in the organization or can be purchased as an application or
even as a service. Disaster recovery plan includes various stages that are giving as
follows,







Understanding an organization’s activities
Understand how each level of the organization is effected with disaster
Develop short term recovery plan
Developing long term recovery plan
Testing and consistently maintaining
Updating the plan with respect to the business changes (Michael Wallace, 2011).

Business Continuity
Business Continuity is generally described as the capability of the organization to
continue delivery of products by providing services at an acceptable level after an

DISASTER BACKUP/DISASTER RECOVERY

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uncommon incident. It can be described as keeping calm and carrying on, as it takes the
responsibility of the business and works to stay on course by facing any kind of storm
that is faced by the business (Syed & Syed, 2004). Business continuity planning is a
comprehensive approach that concentrates on making the money, which works not only
after the natural disaster but also works on the small disruptions to the business flow
(Syed & Syed, 2004).
Business continuance plays a vital role in any business still its implementation is
not practical though it is maintained full operational in all through the situation of the
disaster. In any business continuity plan, the first step includes the deciding the
organizational objectives and functions that are essential within the available budget
(Syed & Syed, 2004). Then the crucial components are identified and failover
mechanisms are then implemented by also adopting the new technologies in order to be
updated to maintain feasible for the organization (Nelson, 2011).
In order to attain the full protection for a company then it should be upgraded to
the disaster recovery plan, which includes its first step as storing the backups off-site.
This process of storing can be done by cloud-hosted backup or storing the secondary
location other than around your servers (Syed & Syed, 2004). Cloud backup systems are
the best and reliable solution for the organizational backups that can be even accessed
easily.
At the time of disaster situation, the major advantage of the disaster recovery plan
is that it is used as the image for your disk drives and servers. A disaster recovery plan
acts as a mirror to a system that helps to recover faster and also there is no waiting time
in order to copy the data. By using the perfect disaster recovery plan for an organization

DISASTER BACKUP/DISASTER RECOVERY

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that results in just using an hour or less time to restore the data that is backup (Michael
Wallace, 2011). Testing and checking of your backup system with regular updates must
be maintained in order to make sure that it is working properly and also the transfer speed
of the data must always be tested as the disasters situations are unexpected so the
organizations must always be prepared to face the situation (Michael Wallace, 2011).
Conclusion
It can be concluded that in order to face the accidental situations or natural
disaster organizations must follow the disaster preparedness by adopting the data backup
plan, disaster recovery plan, and the business continuity (Syed & Syed, 2004). However,
once the data is lost or damaged then it can’t be bought back the only other option is to
restore the data from the backup services if implemented before. So the organizations
must be prepared to face the disaster situations and plans must be prepared within the
organization or purchase the services from outside. Each organization will have unique
plans and technological strategies as every organization have their own goals and
objectives (Preston, 2007).

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Reference
Little, D. B. (2003). Implementing Backup and Recovery. John Wiley & Sons.
Nelson, S. (2011). Pro Data Backup and Recovery. Apress.
Michael Wallace, L. W. (2011). The Disaster Recovery Handbook: A Step-by-step Plan to
Ensure Business Continuity and Protect Vital Operations, Facilities, and Assets.
AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
Preston, C. (2007). Backup & Recovery: Inexpensive Backup Solutions for Open Systems.
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Syed , A., & Syed, A. (2004). Business Continuity Planning Methodology. Sentryx.

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