Back it up, the Right Way

While working as MIS manager for a regional PC distribution

company, one of my daily frustrations was taking back-ups at the end of the day.

It was an unavoidable task that I had to perform it as part of my routine at the

close of business. To add to my frustration, I had to physically go around the

office making sure no one was using the system prior to starting the back-up

process. Otherwise, it would cause a disruption in the process, which could lead

to a much longer back-up window–typically seven hours. And the only way to do

this was to stay back in office for long hours even after the entire office

staff had gone home. Not a very happy situation, especially if it happens on a

regular basis.

While talking to several MIS managers, I realized that this

process has not changed much since I left the MIS position a few years ago.

Companies still need a window of several hours with which to backup the system.

In the new economy, this procedure is antiquated, counter-productive and results

in losses, particularly if you offer online transaction processing. A business

transitioning for e-commerce will find that 24x7 network operation is now the

norm. Companies cannot afford bandwidth degradation and performance limitations

commonly associated with routine handling of daily backup procedures, which bogs

down the network and irritates users.

Dynamic storage



MIS managers needn’t fret, for there are better ways to

handle the situation. With a LAN-free backup, you can get significant

improvement in network performance, which means happier end-users, lesser

downtime which makes network administrators happy, and above all, it keeps the

cost of ownership low. The basic premise is to be able to backup your data any

time of the day without bringing your network to a standstill and without any

performance degradation.

Does it require a major change in your infrastructure today?

Yes, if you do not have a storage area network (SAN) already in place. But if

you are planning to implement one (and 90 % of IT organizations have SANs in

their IT roadmap), then the technology is already in place for you to use. There

are several options for you to choose from.

Basic LAN-free technology consists of a shared tape library

with dedicated connections to individual servers over a SAN. In this approach,

each tape drive within the library is assigned a specific server. The data is

transported from the server via dedicated fiber channel connection over the SAN.

The servers and the tape library, connected using a fiber channel switch achieve

alternate pathing.

Enhancements in data storage management have improved the

performance and flexibility of SANs. Using dynamic storage device sharing, it is

possible to dynamically reallocate storage devices to specific servers. This

on-the-fly moving of data storage devices, coupled with intelligent backup

technology, reduces the number of storage devices required.

SAN over wide area network (WAN) offers an efficient disaster

recovery option. Instead of shipping tapes to an offsite storage warehouse or

recovery center, IP-based storage protocols can connect SANs over wider

distances, thus extending the SAN over the WAN.

While access to the right information at the right time means

profitability, the lack of it can spell lost opportunities, budget cuts and

layoffs. When you consider how critical that information or data is, why are we

still using antiquated systems or procedures to secure the lifeblood of our

business?

Your guess is as good as mine.

The author is country manager, Hitachi Data Systems, India