Section 24.6. Examples of Backup and Archive


24.6. Examples of Backup and Archive

The following two examples illustrate the differences between information that is archived and information that is backed up. Keeping backup copies for several years does not inherently make them archive copies. They are simply backups that have been kept for an extended period of time.

WingsRUs, a fictitious aircraft manufacturer, has detailed information about its latest plane, the WingsRUs 563. The data includes critical marketing information, detailed design specifications, invoices for materials, testing plans and results, FAA inspection and approval information, and customer information. The data is stored on different databases on different servers at its various locations. WingsRUs backs up this data regularly using traditional backup applications.

When the company begins manufacturing the next new plane, the WingsRUs 565, it determines it no longer needs to back up data regarding the 563; instead it needs to make room for the new 565 data, which is now the more valuable data to the company.

In the event that there are issues with the plane, the company decides to retain much of the 563 data in case the FAA should ask for detailed design specifications, testing plans, or other related material in the future. WingsRUs migrates its 563 backup data to a reference archive system, which provides appropriate access to this information when needed at a price point that is cost-effective. If the data is properly archived, the company should be able to retrieve the old plans by simply asking for the 563 without needing to know (or have access to) the hostnames, filesystems, or applications that stored the data in the first place.

A U.S. financial trading firm communicates with its customers primarily via email. After receiving a series of complaints that this firm is reportedly "promising" a specific rate of return on certain investments, the Securities and Exchange Commission begins an investigation. The investigation begins with an electronic discovery request to see all email written in the last two years that contain the words "promise" and "guarantee." A discovery request is a legal term for a request for background information on a particular subject. An electronic discovery request is a discovery request that requires you to obtain the information from your computer systems.

Without an email archiving system, this type of request is difficult or even impossible to meet. If the firm had performed daily backups of its email system for the last two years, it would need to restore 730 versions (365 backup copiesx2 years) of its Exchange Server and then search each version for the requested wordsat best a daunting task. However, if the emails had been archived to an email archiving system, the company could easily search all emails sent in the last two years for the words "promise" and "guarantee," and they would be immediately presented with a copy of all such messages.




Backup & Recovery
Backup & Recovery: Inexpensive Backup Solutions for Open Systems
ISBN: 0596102461
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 237

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