On site back ups

[txcynna]

We're using Retrospect 6.1 right now, writing backups to dvds, and rotating hard drives (that I change every few days).

Since our equipment is getting older, I have a feeling upgrades are in my future and I was wondering what other people are using... is there something better, faster, so easy a monkey could set it up? (I especially like that 'so easy a monkey can set it up' part as I ran into an issue when our RW drive died and was replaced).

[Kent]

For internal backup, the answer is easy. Drives are cheap now. You can simply have a second hard drive of the same size and type in the computer, and set it up to be mirrored (data is written to both drives at the same time.) If one fails, you get a warning, but you still have the data. Replace the drive (keep a spare) and you are back up. On a Mac, use Time Machine. For offsite backup, external drives and backup software make sense. Swap the drive every day or two. How much can you afford to lose? Consider floods, roof leaks, break-ins, tornadoes, and power surges, just to list a few. Do not trust any device, new or old, with your only copy of critical data.

[MGB_LE]

This is a continual challenge for us. We currently back up one server to another on disk, which makes for quick restores in teh event we lose a file, or even the whole server. Then we back up the server to tape, so our workflow is disk to disk, to tape, and those tapes go off site daily. As our storage pool grows, the problem becomes more challenging with choosing a software package and having enough space.

[Hopkins Printing]

Hi txcynna,

Although we are also using Retrospect 6.1 to backup to tape, you mentioned that you are backing up to DVD. That sort of intrigued me. Is anyone backing up to Blu-Ray? Does anyone know if Retrospect supports Blu-Ray backup?

Thanks,
hp