Stephen J. Bigelow

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BACKUP PRODUCTS
Backup software: Avoiding integration problems By Stephen J. Bigelow
Once you've made a purchase commitment, it's time to get your new backup software up and running. Although the process of installation and integration may seem simple enough, getting the backup software to run properly in your live environment can sometimes prove problematic. There's no substitute for first-hand... More...
Backup software: Preparing for the purchase By Stephen J. Bigelow
Choosing backup software can be a difficult process. The backup market is dominated by a few major vendors, including IBM, EMC Corp., and Symantec Corp. and there are some enterprises that will opt to work with the top vendors exclusively. However, there are actually dozens of backup vendors supplying potentially... More...
Practical guide to buying and implementing backup software By Stephen J. Bigelow
Backups are an essential tier of enterprise storage, ensuring that valuable business data is protected against accidental loss and natural disasters. But the backup landscape is changing. Tape remains the quintessential backup technology. Disk-based technologies (such as disk-to-disk and disk-to-disk-to-tape... More...
CDP: Strengths and weaknesses By Stephen J. Bigelow
Continuous data protection (CDP) is a supplemental backup technology that allows IT staff to recover the maximum amount of data in the absolute minimum time. CDP addresses three key issues of data backup: backup window, recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO). Downtime occurs any time that a... More...
CDP: Future directions By Stephen J. Bigelow
There is little doubt that continuous data protection >continuous data protection (CDP) technology has an important future in enterprise IT deployments. Analysts and vendors alike feel that CDP will eventually become as ubiquitous as RAID and will change the fundamental way that global enterprises protect... More...
CDP: User perspectives By Stephen J. Bigelow
One of the best ways to gauge a technology is to hear feedback from users employing products in actual production environments. Continuous data protection (CDP) is so new that most vendors were extremely hesitant to offer user feedback. Storactive Inc. and Revivio Inc. proved to be pleasant exceptions -- quickly... More...
CDP: An overview By Stephen J. Bigelow
Continuous data protection (CDP), also referred to as "continuous backup" or "time addressable storage," tracks and records changes to enterprise data on the fly in real time. CDP creates a running journal of storage activity, with a new entry generated each time a change occurs to the system. This record is so detailed... More...
How to develop a VTL data retention strategy By Stephen J. Bigelow
What you will learn: Data retention is an important consideration with a VTL, as the space available for backups is, unlike in a tape library, a finite resource. Therefore, developing a data retention strategy is critical for VTL users.

A virtual tape library (VTL) emulates a tape library within a disk storage system... More...

Compression, deduplication and encryption: What's the difference? By Stephen J. Bigelow
What you will learn from this tip: Learn the distinction between compression, deduplication and encryption as these concepts are gaining importance in everyday storage.

Hard disks now rule the storage industry, and traditional storage arrays are routinely flanked by other disk-based systems like virtual... More...

CDP adds real-time backup protection for mission-critical data By Stephen J. Bigelow
TECH CLOSE-UP
Backups are certainly part of an overall data protection scheme, but backups themselves are no longer enough. Whether you're collaborating with remote offices on the far side of the world, or taking holiday sales orders over the Web, there's no time to take busy production systems offline for backups... More...
CDP: The vendors By Stephen J. Bigelow
At this point, continuous data protection CDP products are currently available (or in development) from a selection of relatively small but aggressive vendors including -- in no particular order -- Storactive Inc., Mendocino Software, Revivio Inc., Asempra Technologies, TimeSpring Software Corp., XOsoft, and Network... More...
How data backup strategies are changing By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
Most storage administrators don't have trouble getting data onto disk or tape. The real challenge is keeping that data safe in the face of daily operations. Whether you're dealing with a hard disk failure or chasing a misplaced tape, data loss is a fact of life.

But data loss isn't just an inconvenience. It can result in... More...

Backup data security overview By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
The loss or theft of sensitive data doesn't just impact an IT department. News of a lost tape or hacked data center storage can easily make the front page of The Wall Street Journal or USA Today, often leading to lost customers, regulatory scrutiny and a rash of litigation that can damage a company for years. Storage... More...
Tape backup overview By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
Tape is the quintessential backup technology, providing cost-effective, long-term data storage for all business types and sizes. Although tape performance is relatively slow, tape fits well into the storage architecture, because it allows users to store a large volume of data at a reasonable price.

Therefore... More...

Advanced data storage backup and protection overview By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
It takes more than blank tapes or cheap disks to handle enterprise data backups. It's about keeping the business running while meeting the compliance standards for your industry.

Faster tape drives can speed a conventional backup, but disks are filling a wide range of data backup roles, locally as well as across a... More...

Data backup copies overview By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
At the simplest level, all backups produce copies of valuable data that protect an organization against loss, theft, failure and other unforeseen calamities. But traditional "backups" are typically relegated to slow tape or optical media where data is not intended for ready access. "Copies" are a bit different... More...
Remote backup overview By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
Two trends are pushing data out of the data center. 1) Branch offices are growing in number. 2) Wireless technologies have expanded the use of laptops and other mobile computing devices, making each mobile user a "branch office."

But with more critical business data residing outside the primary corporate data center... More...
Disk-based backup overview By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
The best way to protect valuable corporate data is to create one or more copies of that data -- backups. However, the burden of implementing a backup scheme that is fast, safe and cost-effective remains a serious challenge for storage administrators. Traditional tape systems simply do not meet the demands of today's... More...
Backup strategies: Future directions By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
Backup strategies -- Future directions

The future is always uncertain when it comes to technology, but analysts have noted some important trends to look for. The ultimate fate of CDP may be decided within the next two yearsas other technologies fight for attention in the data center. "I think within 12-18 months this... More...

Backup strategies: The vendors By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
Backup strategies -- The vendors

When formulating a backup strategy, it's important to identify your needs and then match each need to the most appropriate storage product. In many cases, a backup strategy will involve numerous disk-based technologies, and each will offer a price/performance tradeoff that must... More...

Data backup special report By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
Data backups can guard against data loss, support compliance and retention needs and protect the business from disaster. But good data backups need much more than a new tape library or the latest software release -- data backups need a clear plan that meets the objectives of your specific business. Data backup... More...
Backup strategies: Strengths and weaknesses By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
Backup strategies -- Strengths and weaknesses

There is no single backup strategy --- each organization must formulate a strategy that meets its unique backup, compliance or disaster recovery needs. The problem is further complicated by a variety of data types that must be treated differently, usually involving a... More...

Backup strategies: User perspectives By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
Backup strategies -- User perspectives

There is no single universal backup strategy or product -- one size does not fit all. A backup strategy must be developed by each individual organization to accommodate its business needs, liabilities, technical expertise and budget. Even after a strategy is developed and put... More...

Backup strategies: An overview By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
Backup strategies -- An overview

Traditional backups simply copied the contents of a server or data center to tape. Nobody worried about what data was being copied or thought about its importance to the business, and strategies involved little more than just scheduling backup jobs and keeping track of tape... More...

Data archives overview By Stephen J. Bigelow, Features Writer
Under normal circumstances, a backup is simply a copy of data that is kept aside to protect against data loss -- when a file is lost due to user error, or data is corrupted because of system problems, the affected data can be restored from a backup. An archive is different from a backup because the data may not be used for... More...
REMOTE BACKUP SOLUTIONS
Best Practices for Backup by Syncsort
videocast, W. Curtis Preston, one of the leading backup experts in the country, describes some key best practices that will help build a better backup system. There are more and better tools to protect data than ever before, but how they're implemented and used in a storage environment can...
ESG - A Compelling Disk Backup Story by ExaGrid Systems, Inc.
This ESG white paper explores how disk-based backup has emerged and why it is so critical in today's storage environments. Read this white paper to also learn how one company has blossomed in the disk market and the products they offer. Over the past few years, disk-based backup has truly...
Tape Backup Performance and Reliability Best Practices by Dell | EqualLogic
discusses best practices related to tape backup performance and reliability, troubleshooting automated tape libraries, and managing long term tape archives. This document discusses best practices related to tape backup performance and reliability, troubleshooting...
Cross-client Centrino® and Core™ 2 Processor with vPro™ Processor Technology Technical White Paper by Intel Corporation
desktop PCs1 deliver built-in security and remote management capabilities to meet critical business c. The new generation of Intel-based notebook and desktop PCs deliver significantly improved performance for compute-intensive applications and multitasking - all in a power-...
Cool Vendors in Data Protection by Diligent Technologies Corporation, an IBM Company
and storage administrators responsible for backup/recovery and/or disaster recovery will want to consider these vendors for applicability in their environments.

In recent years, some of the most interesting innovations in backup/recovery have come from smaller vendors at the...
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...