HP D7171A - NetServer - LPr Manual page 6

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Backup
System backup is an essential component of any mass storage strategy. Backup strategies
provide for the reconstruction and recovery of lost operating environments and application
data if the system should fail. They complement other availability strategies and are
designed to improve the overall system uptime.
Backup is a combination of hardware, software, and required operator actions. Automated
backup is an option and is recommended for most installations. A wide variety of tape
backup choices, including QIC/Travan, DAT, DLT, autoloaders, and tape libraries, are
available, and consumers make their selections based on the reliability, capacity, transfer
rate and, above all, value for the money of these choices. Certain RAID structures,
including duplexing and mirroring, can supplement backup, since copies of the data are
available to ensure reproducibility, but RAID is not designed to be a substitute for backup
routines.
Each server environment should have a well-documented plan for backing up important
data. It is important to apply a "system-level" backup strategy, not just a file-level or
application-level backup strategy. Indeed, a Disaster Recovery (DR) approach to backup is
increasing in popularity. This approach ensures that in the event of a total system failure,
when not even the operating system can recover, a backup tape can completely restore the
server with its operating system, configuration files, applications and user data.
Backup management is an important consideration as well. Management tools are
available that monitor the backup process so that the system administrator becomes aware
of any error conditions that might arise during the backup operation. The more
sophisticated tools also advise a course of action that corrects the error. These tools help
to ensure that backups are successfully completed.
Users continue to demand higher levels of availability; minimizing downtime is essential.
Backup software solutions are now available which permit backups to occur while the
server is available to users. Some hardware configurations allow tape drives to be replaced
"on-line" without powering down the server.
Finally as space becomes a premium in many IT environments, backup products are now
designed to be rack-mountable as well as stand-alone.
Issues to Consider
This discussion should lead the reader to a set of fundamental questions about server data
protection and your server mass storage solutions.
Does the server vendor really understand mass storage?
Does the company have a track record supplying systems into demanding enterprise
environments, or is it a PC company trying to address server needs with mass storage
designed for desktop use?
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