Section 8.22. Final Thoughts

8.22. Final Thoughts

Picking a commercial backup utility is a hard job. The only job that's harder is writing one. Take the time to do it right, and don't be afraid to get professional help in making this decision; it's a constantly moving target.

Also, try not to dismiss too quickly features you believe you will not need. I would submit that you might need them at some point. You never know how your environment will grow. For example, my first commercial backup software setup was designed to handle around 20 machines with a total of 200 GB. Within two years, that became 250 machines and several terabytes, and we picked up several different operating systems and database types along the way. You just never know how big or complicated your environment is going to grow. However, if you are simply looking for a backup solution for a small environment, and you are sure that it will never grow much larger, feel free to ignore questions about features for very large environments. (If you are a small environment, perhaps you are better served by one of the open-source tools covered earlier in the book.)

I wish you the best of success in finding a product to suit your needs.

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