I agree... the fast online data backup/ access is expensive and the
slow online storage reasonable and for now the "twain shan't meet."
But as long as you are looking to add retrieval speed and continue the
tape bkup you referred to, and considering that hardware is relatively
cheap these days, a server with a SATA RAID controller card (3ware
brand?) and some drive trays full of the appropriate number of 1.5
Terra byte disks would give you the real time retrieval of your data.
With the controller card, you could run RAID 5 with 4 or more drives if
you like so that your system could survive & auto rebuild a drive
failure (not so uncommon with large SATA drives) but you wouldn't even
need RAID to as long as you have the tape backup.
The key is not to invest too much labor/ money in this type of system
and with the redundant tape backup you don't have to.
If you drop the tape backup however ... then you are into a whole
different kettle of fish. You have to have fail safe server redundancy
that includes offsite dataset storage... and that is technically
complex, laborious and expensive to do yourself for a real time
operation... and as was noted at the start ... with commercial online
services it is either expensive or slow.
But you might want to do a cost analysis. By the time all is
calculated, you might find it as cheap and a lot easier to not create
an additional local server bkup, drop the tape backup and just contract
for a commercial fast retrieval online bkup service. It also allows you
to keep things simple and to remain focused on your own biz, rather than
IT support.
There are no magic bullets in this backup game... only various choices
that have various consequences.
Time, money and labor are your factors in the decision and labor is
really either time or money.
db
Snyder, Mark (IT CIV) wrote:
About 2-3 years ago, I worked on a proposal for Gov't Printing Office.
Even by then, organizations with large storage needs learned to
distinguish between on-line with quick access (very fast SAN/RAID with
10-15K RPM Enterprise disks) and online storage that was still mostly
enterprise quality, but slower and cheaper as a second-tier form of
storage.
For simpler needs, 1.5 TB capacity disk drives are available. Might
make a nice middle layer between fast-access and archive/backup.
Thank you,
Mark Snyder
-----Original Message-----
Typical use of the terms by storage experts is along these lines:
Online. Files accessible immediately. Could be local, could be a
network
drive, could be a SAN, could be on a web page, but immediately
accessible
without any other steps.
Archived. Not immediately accessible. Requires some step to make it
accessible. Again, could be stored on almost any kind of media, from
tape
to DVD to hard drive to SAN to whatever. A request is made to make the
archived files or data sets available online for a period of time, so
the
user can access them. Offloads files which are no longer accessed
regularly, reducing load on the online file storage systems.
Backup. A copy of some files or data sets that can be used to restore
the
originals in case of a problem. Orthogonal to the first two.
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