Do you know how your organization measures up in regard to the basics of backup operations? Here's a checklist of 10 areas you should focus on to build a more effective backup practice.
1. Plan ahead. Backup is one strategic component of data protection; others include mirrors, snapshots and replication. In most environments, traditional backup serves as the last resort for data recovery. But as a strategic element, backup planning should be a fundamental part of the overall storage plan.
Gbackup's fully automated remote data backup serves as an easy, cost effective and hassle-free solution to your company's backup needs.
2. Establish a life cycle operations calendar. An effective backup operation requires certain tasks to be completed successfully every day. There are also weekly, monthly, quarterly and even annual tasks that are as important as daily tasks. While short-term tasks are highly tactical, long-term tasks tend to be more strategic. In an effective backup operations environment, all tasks should be documented and performed on schedule.
Gbackup's Open File Agent continues to backup files whilst they are being worked on.
3. Review backup logs daily. A review of backup application error and activity logs is a key daily task--but one that's often easier said than done. Log analysis can be time-consuming, but it can pay extremely valuable dividends and is essential to reliable backup.
Gbackup sends you a daily email notifications on your current backup status for you to review. Gbackup software is pre-configured to use bit-backup technology. This technology assesses each individual file and only sends changes within each file to our servers after the initial backup. This ensures that no errors are incurred as well as maintaining an efficient backup solution leaving you confident and satisfied.
4. Protect your backup database or catalog. All backup applications maintain a database or catalog that's absolutely critical to the recovery of backed up data. Lose the catalog and you've lost your backups. While some backup applications have mechanisms for reading through tapes and recovery indexes, this can be an onerous--if not impossible--task.
Gbackup automatically keeps and sends you a catalogue of backed up data, it is imperative that you keep a record of this - which Gbackup will backup as well.
5. Identify and resolve backup window failures daily. Backup window failures are successful backups that exceed the expected backup window. Because the backup job itself completes, no errors are reported in the error log, so this problem is often overlooked. In addition to affecting production environments and creating user dissatisfaction, jobs that approach or exceed the backup window may be warning signs of impending capacity limits or performance bottlenecks. Recognizing and addressing these issues as early as possible can prevent future failures and avoid user dissatisfaction.
Gbackup solves this problem by constantly re-evaluating your PC, laptop or server system. Multiple copies of files are stored using a sophisticated version control system, unavailable in most other backup software. In addition the auto select functionality can be used to ensure that specific types of files, for example .doc, excel etc. , will get backedup irrespective of where they are.
6. Locate and back up orphan systems and volumes. Your backup software invariably provides you with some level of reporting information about daily backup success.
Gbackup automatically keeps and sends you a notification of your backup status which includes the amount of files backed up; the size of your compressed backed up data; the percentage of your storage quota used. Also attached is are log files that illustrate exactly which data was backed up.
7. Centralize and automate the backup management as much as possible. A key to successful data protection is consistency. This doesn't mean that all data must be treated in the same manner. What it does mean is that all data of equivalent value and importance to the organization should be managed in a similar fashion.
Gbackup automatically backups your data, encrypts it, sends it over the Internet to a secure off-site location. The entire process is completely automated. Our various packages Gbackup Manager and Gbackup Lite ensures you peace of mind knowing that all data within the organization, from the server to mobile units are managed consistently and effectively without impacting on staff productivity.
8. Create and maintain an open issues report. Finding and fixing problems are tactical activities critical to backup success. However, the process of managing those problems effectively and establishing appropriate metrics indicative of backup quality is essential to drive systemic improvement of backup infrastructures.
Gbackup provides you with live and on site support 24/7 365days. Try it out yourself visit our site and chat to a consultant right away.
9. Ensure that backup is integrated with the change control process. Backup environments are by their nature highly dynamic. Unfortunately, within backup organizations, too often the change process for backup is equally dynamic. Just as backup must be part of the strategic planning process, on an operational level, backup must be part of an organization's formal change control process.
Gbackup works within a variety of platforms whilst constantly re-evaluating your system.
10. Leverage your vendors effectively. A fundamental question that you must be able to answer is: Does your vendor have the right skills to support your needs? All technical problems get resolved, eventually. If your technical problem isn't being resolved in a reasonable amount of time, then you may not be working with the right vendor. This becomes extremely apparent when multiple products from multiple vendors are integrated.
Gbackup's team of highly trained technical staff are on hand at all times. We are also constantly manually monitoring your backups together with our automated backup software. Providing you with a world class backup solution.
These 10 tasks may seem basic, but accomplishing them isn't always easy. They depend on a number of key elements: appropriate reporting and measurement capabilities, a high degree of staff competency within the backup organization and solid cross-functional communication. The impediments can be significant, including costs, resource availability, skill levels, organizational politics and a host of others.
Checklist courtesy of www.searchstorage.com
