Most of us have some form of data backup in place. Unfortunately, this tends to lull us into a false sense of security and that keeps us from addressing how well it is doing the job or from upgrading or changing to better, more reliable, automated systems such as TrueVault the “state of the art” solution from the company I work for Toggle Networks Inc.

(This is not a sales pitch, however I do want you to understand that I am totally committed to the belief that TrueVault is the best data protection system in the world and that bias affects the degree of passion that I bring to this subject.)

Here is the problem:

Any data backup system that relies on human action is automatically less reliable and more expensive than a 100% automated “set it and forget it” solution such as TrueVault.

What happens if one of the dozens of possible disasters occur that causes the loss your data and:

• You attempt to reinstall from tape and the data isn’t there?
• Only part of your data is there?
• You find out that the data recovery will take days or perhaps weeks to accomplish?

These are the hidden dangers. What can they do to you?

What are the hidden costs?

 
 Labour is expensive and the typical tape backup systems that is currently the most common method of backup is way too labour intensive. “Someone” (usually a fairly expensive “someone”) has to change the tape and check the logs daily. They usually then have to transport the tape to an offsite location, swap it for the next rotation and bring the next tape back. Occasionally they should test that the data is there and that the  reinstall does work. In the typical installation the total labour involved averages 23 minutes a day. At today’s cost of labour for “someone” , including fringe benefits labor costs $39 per hour so that amounts to $14.82 a day or over $315 a month plus tapes and depreciation of the tape backup system. We are talking over $4,000 dollars a year in hidden costs!     

Maybe it is time to reconsider how you are backing up your data.

Roberts G. Keeling