Archive for the ‘Backup dictionnary’ Category

Encryption

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information (referred to as plaintext) using an algorithm (called cipher) to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. Witch is often a password or a phrase.

The result of the process is encrypted information (in cryptography, referred to as ciphertext). In many contexts, the word encryption also implicitly refers to the reverse process, decryption, to make the encrypted information readable again.

As far as 77backup and most backup software, data is encryted before leaving the source computer, is stored cryted (data remains private) and is only decrypted when data is restored by the user.

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Disaster recovery

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Disaster recovery is the process, policies and procedures related to preparing for recovery or continuation of technology infrastructure and data critical to an organization after a natural or human-induced disaster.

Disaster recovery planning is a subset of a larger process known as business continuity planning and should include planning for resumption of applications, data, hardware, communications (such as networking) and other IT infrastructure. A business continuity plan (BCP) includes planning for non-IT related aspects such as key personnel, facilities, crisis communication and reputation protection, and should refer to the disaster recovery plan (DRP) for IT related infrastructure recovery / continuity.

Disaster can be classified in two broad categories.
1) Natural disasters- Preventing a natural disaster is very difficult, but it is possible to take precautions to avoid losses. These disasters include flood, fire, earthquake, hurricane, etc
2) Man made disasters- These disasters are major reasons for failure. Human error and intervention may be intentional or unintentional which can cause massive failures such as loss of data. These disasters include accidents, walkouts, sabotage, burglary, virus, intrusion, etc.

Generaly speaking, the ability to restore data is an important part of disaster recovery, though it is part of the very last step of a disaster recovery plan : “Corrective measures”

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Remote backup

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

A remote, online, or managed backup service is a service that provides users with a system for backing up and storing computer files. Online backup systems are typically built around a client software program that runs on a schedule, typically once a day (or in 77backup case : every 4 hours).

This type of program collects, compresses, encrypts, and transfers the data to the remote backup service provider’s servers. Servers that are generaly mirrored in order to ensure a 100% availability.

Remote backup has a lot of advantages :

  • Remote backup does not require user intervention. The user does not have to change tapes, label CDs or perform other manual steps. He or she only has to set up the software… and forget about it !
  • Remote backup maintains data offsite. Backups are stored in a different location from the original data. Think about Katrina in New Orleans… having a backup in the basement was of no use in that case (think about : fire, earthquake, .
  • Unlimited data retentions
  • Remone backup services will work continuously, backing up files as they are changed (most of them).
  • Most remote backup services will use a 128 - 512 bit encryption to send data over unsecured links (ie internet) – At 77backup, we use 512 bit encryption, that what is used by banks and the military.
  • A few remote backup services can reduce backup by only transmitting changed binary data bits

But remote backup has some disadvantages:

  • Depending on the available network bandwidth, the restoration of data can be slow (and si can be the first backup).
  • You need an internet connection to backup your data.
  • If encryption password is lost, no more data recovery will be possible (but it garantees the privacy of your data, the service provider can’t read your files)

As a conclusion, remote backup is a very good solution for hassle free backup. The cost is generaly small, especially compared to the troubles taht can be avoided.

77backup is a pure remote backup service, with near real time backup, powerful encryption…

Loosely based on wikipedia - (Donate)

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Incremental backups

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

An incremental backup is a backup method where only material that is newer or changed compared to the backed up data is actually backed up, in order to dramatically increase the speed of the backup process (and the related network consumption)

In order to do an incremental backup, a full backup needs to be done once, in order to initialize the process.

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Full backup

Monday, June 15th, 2009

A full backup is a backup method the implies the copy of all files onto the backup server. It’s the simplest method available, but is time consuming.

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Sarbanes-Oxley

Saturday, May 30th, 2009

US Law that requires every U.S. public company and many private companies are required to comply with.

The primary impetus behind Sarbanes-Oxley is the reform of accounting practices by publicly held companies (it was created after the Enron scandal :-) ). Within this, a particular emphasis is placed on records integrity, retention, and availability. Backups are a strategic component of this law.

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Unstructured data repository model

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Any backup strategy starts with a concept of data repository

An unstructured repository may simply be a stack of floppy disks or CD-R/DVD-R media with minimal information about what was backed up and when. This is the easiest to implement, but probably the least likely to achieve a high level of recoverability.

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