Rick Cook

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BACKUP PRODUCTS
Five things to consider when using virtualized servers for disaster recovery By Rick Cook
Disaster recovery (DR) isn't the No. 1 reason enterprises decide to virtualize their servers, but it is one of the major benefits. Running your applications on virtualized servers puts all your applications, data and configuration, in one neat package that's easy to move around as needed. A properly virtualized... More...
What to know when choosing and planning a centralized backup system By Rick Cook
What you will learn from this tip: This tip will help you decide if centralized backup is appropriate for your needs and offers information about the products available to you.

If you are backing up desktops or workstations, centralized backups are an excellent way to make sure your data is properly protected... More...

The top 10 causes of slow data backups By Rick Cook
Because data backup is the closest thing to a pure read-write operation on a typical system, it's the canary in the coal mine for a lot of I/O system problems. Things will often show up on backups before they begin to affect everyday operations. If your backups suddenly start to take longer, you need to examine your... More...
The differences between block-based and file-based data backup By Rick Cook
While the distinction between block-based data storage and file-based storage is worth understanding (because it helps explain the differences between a NAS filer and a storage area network, for example), backup administrators don't usually choose one over the other -- at least not directly.

For most... More...

How to choose the right tape library By Rick Cook
Tape libraries are ideal for long-term storage of archives or backups. They are also a major capital expense and there are many things you need to consider when purchasing one. In this context, tape libraries are a step up, sometimes a long step up, from autoloaders. Autoloaders are simpler, less-expensive devices... More...
Backup and recovery basics: Testing your backups By Rick Cook
All too often testing is the missing step in making backups. Too many companies make substantial investments and spend a lot of time backing up their data only to find the backups won't work when something goes wrong with their data storage.

The problem has become particularly acute as backup has become more... More...

Top tape rotation strategies By Rick Cook
Tape backup is typically the final step in backing up or archiving your data, but only making a single copy of your data is asking for trouble. To be really secure, you need to have multiple copies with at least one copy stored securely offsite. Most backup schemes use a combination of partial backups interspersed... More...
Using Dump for Linux/Unix data backup By Rick Cook
Dump is a standard utility for backing up file systems on Linux, Unix and BSD machines. It's free, powerful, fast and, in spite of its drawbacks, is widely used to back up *nix systems. Dump is losing some ground to third-party backup software, but because of its advantages many users prefer it. Here are some of the major... More...
How to keep stored data out of enemy hands By Rick Cook
What you will learn from this tip: A few ways to safeguard backup tapes.

In February, the Bank of America announced that it had lost backup tapes containing personal data and credit card information on 1.2 million government employees, including United States senators. While there is no evidence that this... More...

Data backup failure: Five tips for prevention By Rick Cook
Data backup troubleshooting tip: Media failure, human error and hardware failure are among the most common reasons data backups fail. Learn what you can do to prevent these issues and others to perform legitimate, usable backups.

Backups are central to any data protection strategy, but by some estimates more than... More...

Integrate a virtual tape library with real tape By Rick Cook
What you will learn from this tip: Storage expert Rick Cook explains how hanging a tape drive or library off of a VTL and pruning your data are two ways to integrate your VTL with tape.

Sooner or later you're almost certainly going to need tape. For archival storage, tape's combination of capacity, cost and storage life... More...

How to troubleshoot your D2D2T system By Rick Cook
What you will learn from this tip: Checking your tape drive, inspecting your logs and adjusting your buffers can help you to determine what may be wrong with your D2D2T system.

The most common problems with disk-to-disk-to-tape (D2D2T) backup systems are related to performance. It's not that the system doesn't work; it's... More...

Three reasons to avoid virtual tape libraries By Rick Cook
Virtual tape library (VTL) technology is a subset of disk-to-disk (D2D) backup. Like other forms of D2D, a VTL often uses inexpensive Serial ATA (SATA) drives, usually with some level of RAID protection, to provide near-term backup and restoration. Unlike other forms of D2D, a VTL is engineered to look like a very large tape... More...
Troubleshooting remote backups for Microsoft Exchange Server By Rick Cook

You can back up the Windows Exchange 2000 Server remotely using the Ntbackup utility in Windows 2000. However there are a couple of things you need to watch out for.

One of the problems shows up when you try to do a remote backup and get the error message: "The specified computer is not a Microsoft Exchange server or its... More...

Choosing Linux backup software By Rick Cook
When it comes to backup, Linux storage administrators probably have a wider range of choices than on any other OS. While other OSs, such as Windows, may have more actual backup software products, Linux backup software has a broader range of approaches, not to mention prices.

The good news is that this makes it easier to... More...

Get ready for agentless backup By Rick Cook
What you will learn from this tip: How to evaluate whether agentless backup is right for your environment. This tip offers information on how this emerging approach works, its pros and cons and what to consider before adopting this technology.

Agentless backup software, such as Asigra Inc.'s Televaulting and Chief... More...

Effective data backups: Seven rules to follow By Rick Cook
What you will learn from this tip: Establishing metrics, reducing the possibility of human error and collecting feedback from administrators are a few ways your organization can take better data backups. Learn how to refine your data backup procedure.

Consistency is not merely a virtue when it comes to handling... More...

VTL purchasing guidelines By Rick Cook
A virtual tape library (VTL) is a major investment. More than that, it needs be integrated into your data backup system. Here are 10 questions to ask a potential vendor to help you decide which VTL is right for you.

Does your VTL have the performance I need?

The purpose of a VTL is to consolidate and speed up backups. If the... More...

Ten things you should ask a vendor before buying a tape library By Rick Cook
The tapes you are creating today may have to be read many years from now. This not only requires a degree of forward compatibility, but it also increases the need for future upgrades to avoid replacing expensive libraries. All of that needs to be taken into consideration when you select a tape library.

Here are some... More...

Don't blame the disks: Why data storage fails By Rick Cook
Although storage administrators tend to think that "hardware failures" and "disk failures" are synonymous, a recent study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and NetApp Inc. suggests that the majority of failures in backup data storage systems, as well as primary storage arrays, are... More...
CAS and data deduplication: Partners in archiving By Rick Cook
What you will learn: This tip explores CAS and data deduplication, discusses the uses for each and outlines the technologies' strengths and weaknesses.

Archiving is on everyone's mind right now in the storage world. Compliance demands are pushing users to implement some kind of archiving product, and there's been a... More...

Taking another look at solid-state disk By Rick Cook
What you will learn from this tip: The price of solid-state disks over the past few years has decreased dramatically. This tip outlines how this price change has changed the way many companies use solid-state disk.

Solid-state disks (SSDs) are fast, compact, cool-running and reliable -- the ideal storage medium, in other... More...

How to maximize your mirrored tape controller By Rick Cook
What you will learn from this tip: What mirrored tape controllers can do, besides making copies of tapes.

Most companies buy mirrored tape controllers to do exactly what the name implies -- make a mirrored copy of one or more tapes during the backup process. However, most of the products on the market can do other things... More...

How to destroy data on backup tapes By Rick Cook
What you will learn: This tip offers guidelines for destroying data on backup tapes, with information about degaussing, tape cartridge destruction, tape reuse and record keeping.

Although data left on discarded hard drives gets a lot more publicity, data on discarded tapes is potentially a bigger issue. Most... More...

Compress, then encrypt tapes By Rick Cook
What you will learn from this tip: When your data should be encrypted, and some programs that can help you with this process.

Encrypting tape adds security, but it can also add significant costs if you attempt to encrypt your data before compressing it. Compression works by squeezing redundancy out of data, although... More...

REMOTE BACKUP SOLUTIONS
Global Data Deduplication Results with NetBackup PureDisk by Symantec Corporation
for backups and to more efficiently centralize backup data to multiple sites for assured disaster recovery. Veritas NetBackup PureDisk from Symantec uses data deduplication technology to help customers address these data protection challenges.

At the heart of NetBackup PureDisk...
Why Archive Is Archive, Backup Is Backup and Backup Ain't Archive by STORServer
The differences between backup and archive are quite simple and the stumbling block to understanding the difference is the tools we've chosen to use. The differences between backup and archive are really quite simple. Often, the stumbling block to understanding the...
Protecting Sharepoint with Double-Take for Windows 5.0 by Double-Take Software
collaboration, making it possible to create remote project teams with only an Internet connection. However, when these teams aren't functioning because they can't access data or critical applications like SharePoint, your business risks losing money at an alarming rate. Download...
Heil Trailer Moves Backups to ExaGrid to Gain Faster Backups and Restores by ExaGrid Systems, Inc.
Heil Trailer Moves Backups to ExaGrid to Gain Faster Backups and Restores. Heil Trailer Moves Backups to ExaGrid to Gain Faster Backups and Restores...
Simplifying SharePoint Backup and Recovery by Quest Software
provides native utilities for SharePoint data backup and recovery - they're useful in some situations, but limited in others.

In this new white paper, learn more about these native tools - including a key weakness - and what role they should play in your SharePoint backup and recovery strategy. You'll...
Related Knowledgestorm Podcasts
Podcast: Optimize your Network for Better Business Outcomes by Hewlett-Packard Company
leading edge application acceleration to mobile workers, and speed up backup procedures associated with disaster recovery. Your network has never been more critical to business success than it is today, with employees, customers and partners relying on it to communicate easily and transfer large quantities of...
Time to Rethink Backup and Recovery - Virtualization Changes the Paradigm by Vizioncore Inc.
to run more of their production applications. This raises the bar for backup and recovery applications like vRanger Pro. Virtualization is becoming more widely used and accepted. As the level of use rises, experienced users are adopting virtualization to run more of their production applications. This raises the...
Addressing Backup and Recovery in a Consolidated Server Environment: Practical Advice from a Field-Proven Expert by Datalink/NetApp
This podcast discusses the pros and cons of using VMware Consolidated Backup for local backup and recovery, where it makes sense to use consolidated storage in a virtual environment, and the challenges of DR in a consolidated server environment. Organizations are deploying server virtualization at a rapid pace...