Backup Media

Backup Media: Backup Media can be defined as the actual physical storage used by the backup device to store the backup. There are basically two popular types of backup media being used. Backup media can be either disk or tape. An example of this would be distinguishing between the backed up data and the backup drive. In this explanatory example, the file would be the backed up data, C:\Backups\Accounting\Full.bak. The backup media would be the removable disk, which saves your already stored data. More than 69% of personal users prefer to use physical removable tapes as the perfect backup devices.

Types of Backup Media: The type of backup medium used is dependent of the disk capacity of the backup medium. It is also dependent on the size and nature of the data to be backed up. There is a less chance of a routine backup on a hard disk if the data is large requiring tapes and disk swaps. Most users prefer to back up their data in a single round on one device. The different types of backup media include:

Optical Backup Media: CD-R has a large storage capacity of about 650-MB. CD-RW is a good flexible, reusable, general-purpose backup medium. The primary drawback is that CD-RW disks are proprietary inn nature. This means that only compatible reader software can read them.

Tape: Tapes are usually described as large and sequential write backup devices. Tapes are reliable and simple to set up. They are easily available being mass manufactured. They are inexpensive and not drive specific. They support every type of drive and software.

Removable Drives: Removable Hard Drives have a large storage capacity to be suitable for backups. These drives have a reasonable performance ranging twice the speed of a CD/DVD drive. Hard drives are reliable. They are convenient and portable. These drives are equipped with random-access capability, standard interfaces and exchangeability capacities. However they are proprietary in nature. They are expensive requiring high maintenance.

Network Backup: Network Backups are considered highly reliable and secure means of backup. They provide data security. Duplication of the PC makes it possible to protect each individual PC without the expense of tape drives or removable storage. However network backups are prone to data losses. Viruses can travel over a network, corrupting entire neighbourhood connections. In addition, network backups do not offer the luxury of off-site storage.

Backup Media Maintenance: Differently backup devices are being used in the market. These range from floppies to zip drives to DVD technology. Hence, it becomes important to know how to maintain the original and backup device. A backup storage media has to be maintained similar to the primary storage device.

The backup device has to be kept in protective gear. It should not be thrown or tossed about. The device should not handled with greasy hands. It should not be kept near pets. Backup devices of tapes, zip drives and DVDs are extremely sensitive to temperature variations. In addition, movement and physical vibrations should be kept to a minimum. Companies of IBM and Vogon International state that the backup media should always be initialised.

• Initialising the backup media:
A user always needs to initialise the backup media before the backup can be created. Initialising the backup media causes a media header to be written. This also automatically deletes any existing media header. In addition, initialisation also, effectively deletes the previous contents of the backup media. When initialised, previous information on the tape cannot be retrieved. One can only initialise those backup media devices specified by the backup operation. Other files on the primary storage media remain unaffected by the backup process.


• Password Protection:
Password protection is a common method of maintaining backup media operations and sets. It provides restrictive access to authorised personnel. Passwords provide data security. They prevent backed up data from being corrupted in any way. Passwords maintain backup media by:


• Unauthorised restoration of databases


• Unauthorised appends to the media


• Unintentional overwriting of the media

Password security prevents overwriting the media by formatting it or using it for a continuation volume. Further a password does not encrypt the data in any way. However media set passwords protect all the data saved to that particular media. The media set password is set when the media header is written. It cannot be altered. One can only modify, erase saved data by entering the backup media using the password. Backups set passwords protect only a particular backup set. Different backup set passwords can be used for each backup set on the media.