Lesson 1:Using the Backup Utility

The efficient recovery of lost data is the goal of all backup jobs. A backup job is a single process of backing up data. Regularly backing up the data on server hard disks and client computer hard disks prevents data loss caused by disk drive failures, power outages, virus infections, and other such incidents. If data loss occurs, and you have carefully planned and performed regular backup jobs, you can restore the lost data, whether it is a single file or an entire hard disk.

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After this lesson, you will be able to

• Identify the purpose of backing up and restoring data
• Identify the user rights and permissions that are necessary to back up and restore data
• Identify planning issues for backing up data
• Identify the different backup types
• Explain how to change the default options for the Backup Utility

Estimated lesson time: 30 minutes

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Introducing the Backup Utility

Windows XP Professional provides the Backup or Restore Wizard, shown in Figure 16.1, which allows you to easily back up data. To access the Backup or Restore Wizard, on the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. Alternatively, on the Start menu, you can click Run, type ntbackup, and then click OK. You can use the Backup or Restore Wizard to back up data manually or to schedule unattended backup jobs on a regular basis. You can back up data to a file or to a tape. Files can be stored on hard disks, removable disks (such as Iomega Zip and Jaz drives), and recordable compact discs and optical drives.

Figure 16.1 The Welcome To The Backup Or Restore Wizard page

On the Welcome To The Backup Or Restore Wizard page, click Next. The Backup Or Restore page allows you to specify whether you want to back up files and settings or restore files and settings.

To successfully back up and restore data on a computer running Windows XP Professional, you must have the appropriate permissions and user rights, as described in the following list:

• All users can back up their own files and folders. They can also back up files for which they have the Read, Read and Execute, Modify, or Full Control permission.
• All users can restore files and folders for which they have the Write, Modify, or Full Control permission.
• Members of the Administrators and Backup Operators groups can back up and restore all files (regardless of the assigned permissions). By default, members of these groups have the Backup Files and Directories and Restore Files and Directories user rights.

Planning Issues for Backups

You should plan your backup jobs to fit the needs of your company. The primary goal of backing up data is to be able to restore that data if necessary, so any backup plan that you develop should incorporate how you restore data. You should be able to quickly and successfully restore critical lost data. There is no single correct backup plan for all networks.

Consider the following issues in formulating your backup plan.

Determine Which Files and Folders to Back Up

Always back up critical files and folders that your company needs to operate, such as sales and financial records, the registry for each server, and if you are in a domain, the directory service files based on Microsoft Active Directory service.

Determine How Often to Back Up

If data is critical for company operations, back it up daily. If users create or modify reports once a week, backing up the reports weekly is sufficient. You only need to back up data as often as it changes. For example, there is no need to do daily backups on files that rarely change, such as monthly reports or the Windows XP Professional operating system files.

Determine Which Target Media to Use for Storing Backup Data

With the Backup Utility, you can back up to the following removable media:

• Files. You can store the files on a removable media device, such as an Iomega Zip drive, or on a network location, such as a file server. The file that is created has a .bkf extension and contains the files and folders that you have selected to back up. Users can back up their personal data to a network server. Use this only for temporary backup jobs.
• Tape. A less expensive medium than other removable media, a tape is more convenient for large backup jobs because of its high storage capacity. However, tapes have a limited life and can deteriorate. Be sure that you check the manufacturer's recommendations for usage.

If you use a removable media device to back up and restore data, be sure that you verify that the device is supported on the Windows XP Professional Hardware Compatibility List (HCL).

Determine Whether to Perform Network or Local Backup Jobs

A network backup can contain data from multiple network computers. This allows you to consolidate backup data from multiple computers to a single removable backup medium. A network backup also allows one administrator to back up the entire network. Whether you perform a network or local backup job depends on the data that must be backed up. For example, you can only back up the registry and Active Directory at the computer where you are performing the backup.

If you decide to perform local backups, you must perform a local backup at each computer, including servers and client computers. There are several issues to consider for performing local backups. First of all, you must move from computer to computer so that you can perform a backup at each computer, or you must rely on users to back up their own computers. Most users fail to back up their data on a regular basis. A second consideration with local backups is the number of removable storage media devices. If you use removable storage media devices, such as tape drives, you must have one for each computer, or you must move the tape drive from computer to computer so that you can perform a local backup on each computer.

You might also choose to use a combination of network and local backup jobs. Do this when critical data resides on client computers and servers and you do not have a removable storage media device for each computer. In this situation, users should perform a local backup and store their backup files on a server. You then back up the server.

Selecting the Type of Backup Operation

The Backup Utility provides five types of backup operations that define what data is backed up, such as only those files that have changed since the last backup (see Figure 16.2).

Figure 16.2 Available types of backup

Some backup types use backup markers, also known as archive attributes, which mark a file as having changed. When a file changes, an attribute is set on the file that indicates that the file has changed since the last backup. When you back up the file, this clears or resets the attribute.

Normal

During a normal backup, all selected files and folders are backed up. A normal backup does not rely on markers to determine which files to back up. During a normal backup any existing marks are cleared and each file is marked as having been backed up. Normal backups speed up the restore process because the backup files are the most current and you do not need to restore multiple backup jobs.

Copy

During a copy backup, all selected files and folders are backed up. It neither looks for nor clears markers. If you do not want to clear markers and affect other backup types, use a copy backup. For example, use a copy backup between a normal and an incremental backup to create an archival snapshot of network data.

Incremental

During an incremental backup, only selected files and folders that have a marker are backed up, and then the backup clears markers. Because an incremental backup clears markers, if you did two consecutive incremental backups on a file and nothing changed in the file, the file would not be backed up the second time.

Differential

During a differential backup, only selected files and folders that have a marker are backed up, but the backup does not clear markers. Because a differential backup does not clear markers, if you did two consecutive differential backups on a file and nothing changed in the file, the entire file would be backed up each time.

Daily

During a daily backup, all selected files and folders that have changed during the day are backed up. This backup neither looks for nor clears markers. If you want to back up all files and folders that change during the day, use a daily backup.

Combining Backup Types

An effective backup strategy is likely to combine different backup types. Some backup types require more time to back up data but less time to restore data. Conversely, other backup types require less time to back up data but more time to restore data. If you combine backup types, markers are critical. Incremental and differential backups check for and rely on the markers.

The following are some examples of combining different backup types:

• Normal and differential backups. On Monday a normal backup is performed, and on Tuesday through Friday differential backups are performed. Differential backups do not clear markers, which means that each backup includes all changes since Monday. If data becomes corrupt on Friday, you only need to restore the normal backup from Monday and the differential backup from Thursday. This strategy takes more time to back up but less time to restore.
• Normal and incremental backups. On Monday a normal backup is performed, and on Tuesday through Friday incremental backups are performed. Incremental backups clear markers, which means that each backup includes only the files that changed since the previous backup. If data becomes corrupt on Friday, you need to restore the normal backup from Monday and all incremental backups, from Tuesday through Friday. This strategy takes less time to back up but more time to restore.
• Normal, differential, and copy backups. This strategy is the same as the first example that used normal and incremental backups, except that on Wednesday you perform a copy backup. Copy backups include all selected files and do not clear markers or interrupt the usual backup schedule. Therefore, each differential backup includes all changes since Monday. The copy backup done on Wednesday is not part of the Friday restore. Copy backups are helpful when you need to create a snapshot of your data.

Changing Windows Default Backup Options

The Backup Utility allows you to change the default settings for all backup and restore jobs. These default settings are in the tabs in the Options dialog box. To access the Options dialog box, in the Welcome To The Backup Or Restore Wizard page, click Advanced Mode, then on the Tools menu, click Options.

The following list provides an overview of the settings for the Backup Utility:

• General tab. These settings affect data verification, the status information for backup and restore jobs, alert messages, and what is backed up. Figure 16.3 shows the default settings for the options in the General tab. You should select the Verify Data After The Backup Completes check box because it is critical that your backup data is not corrupt.
• Restore tab. These settings affect what happens when the file to restore is identical to an existing file. Figure 16.4 shows the available settings; the default setting is selected.
• Backup Type tab. These settings affect the default backup type when you perform a backup job. The settings you select depend on how often you back up, how quickly you want to restore, and how much storage space you have. The backup types are Normal (which is the default), Copy, Differential, Incremental, and Daily.

  

  Figure 16.3 The General tab of the Backup Utility's Options dialog box

• Backup Log tab. These settings affect the amount of information that is included in the backup log. The default setting is Summary, which logs key operations such as loading the tape, starting the backup, or failing to open a file. Two additional settings are available: Detailed, which logs all information, including the names of the files and folders; and None, which turns off logging.

  

  Figure 16.4 The Restore tab of the Backup Utility's Options dialog box

• Exclude Files tab. These settings affect which files are excluded from backup jobs.

You can modify some default settings in the Backup or Restore Wizard for a specific backup job. For example, the default backup type is normal, but you can change it to another backup type in the Backup or Restore Wizard. However, the next time that you run the Backup or Restore Wizard, the default backup type (normal) is selected.

Lesson Review

The following questions will help you determine whether you have learned enough to move on to the next lesson. If you have difficulty answering these questions, review the material in this lesson before beginning the next lesson. The answers for these questions are in Appendix A, "Questions and Answers."

1. How do you access the Backup or Restore Wizard?
2. What two operations can you perform using the Backup or Restore Wizard?
3. What is the primary goal of backing up data?
4. If you want to perform a backup but do not want to clear markers or affect other backup types, you should perform a ____________ backup.
5. During a ____________ backup, only selected files and folders that have a marker are backed up, but the backup does not clear markers. If you performed two of these backups in a row on a file and nothing changed in the file, the entire file would be backed up each time.
6. How can you change the default settings for backup and restores for all backup and restore operations using the Backup Utility?
7. You performed a normal backup on Monday. For the remaining days of the week, you only want to back up files and folders that have changed since the previous day. What backup type do you select? Why?

Lesson Summary

• The efficient recovery (restoring) of lost data is the goal of all backup jobs.
• The Backup or Restore Wizard allows you to easily back up and restore data.
• The Backup or Restore Wizard allows you to back up data manually or to schedule unattended backup jobs on a regular basis.
• The Backup or Restore Wizard provides five types of backup: normal, copy, differential, incremental, and daily.
• The Backup Utility has default settings that apply to all backup and restore operations.
• The tabs in the Options dialog box for the Backup Utility allow you to change the default settings for the Backup Utility.