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Online Backup vs. Tape Backup?

Posted by Cliff on from the which-would-you-use-today? dept.

hashbox asks: "I work for a small non-profit (about 100 staff members) and management has decided that they want to use an online data backup system instead of our existing tape backup system. After a meeting with one of the many vendors providing this service, I must admit that I am impressed with the promise of the technology (ease of use etc). However the sysadmin side of me has a few reservations. Has anyone here on Slashdot used an online backup service, and what were your experiences?"

5 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. Keep the tapes. by Jamesie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Even if you go with an online service you should do some form of local backup. What happens if you lose your connection? This sort of service is perhaps best treated as an offsite backup.

  2. Quote the Linus by satanami69 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Only wimps use tape backup real men just upload their important stuff on ftp, and let the rest of the world mirror it." - Linus Torvalds

    Very apropos.

    --
    I really hate Dan Patrick.
  3. Bandwidth limitation and other concerns by mhw25 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Bandwidth and the state of the internet as a whole can compromise this solution. You don't want to lose your insurance at precisely the moment when you need it the most, for example during the slammer attack.

    The popularity of both Storage Area Networks and Network Attached Storages somehow seems to show that most organisations prefers to keep backup within their own control. And tapes are dirt cheap on today's standards.

    Both tapes and solid state solutions can be have cheaply and some have great user friendliness. You get excellent bandwidth thrown in as well.

    The only upside I can think of for online storage is that it is truely redundant, that is you will not lose your backups in event of a fire or other calamities.

    But bear in mind that vendors do have the tendency to promise you the earth and deliver pebbles.

  4. Watch those terms... by lynx_user_abroad · · Score: 5, Insightful
    You're not really in the market for a backup system; you're in the market for a restore system. It's worthless unless you can reliably get the files back.

    Spend some time thinking about the circumstances under which you might need a restore service; how often, how quickly, how to verify it works, etc. This may help to clarify the issues for you.

    --

    The thing about things we don't know is we often don't know we don't know them.

  5. Roll your own... by arrow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think a better option would be to roll your own.

    Standard PC components are insanely cheap these days. Get a 4U box, chuck it full of lots of IDE drives, an IDE RAID controller or two, and Linux. Then toss samba + tar + bzip2 + yyyrsa + rsync on a local box.

    Said 4U could be located at a remote office (if you have one), or possibly find another business who would be willing to swap remote storage devices with you. If all else fails, you can get colo for $50/mbps + space.

    --
    symetrix. We are building a religion, a limited edition.