So, you think your computer hardware and software was expensive? What price do you place on all those years of information stored on your computers and servers? What would be the effect on your business if you came to work one day and found that all the information had been erased from your systems…or the Tax office knocked on your door to do an audit of your financials from 5 years ago …and you didn’t have a backup of your data? Scary thought, isn’t it?

Today, we’re not going to bore you about the need for backing up (that’s been done to death – and we all know we should do it, right?). Instead, you will discover the bigger picture of data management, but specifically at the differences between data “Backup” and “Archive”.

Similar...but different.

You may have heard the terms “Backup” and “Archive” and thought they are the same. Not necessarily so. Both terms refer to the process of electronically moving or copying your valuable files to another location (such as a tape drive) for later retrieval.

However, the critical differences between the two are:

1. Intent (i.e. what is the purpose of performing the backup or archive), and
2. The length of time the data is kept.

Backup

Backups are (or should be!) performed on a daily basis with files copied onto a suitable media such as a tape or hard drive. It’s effectively a snapshot of your live data on your computer systems at the time the backup is performed.

The purpose of backups is to provide you an insurance policy against loss of data. The information on the backup media is relatively short-lived as it is usually overwritten on a daily or weekly basis. Having a reliable backup is essential to get your business up and running again in the event of a disaster.

Although backups are time consuming, sometimes difficult and tedious, they are necessary evils with today's technology. Because today's personal computers are so reliable, you may be lulled into a false sense of security. Make no mistake – hard drives crash, viruses can infect your system and destroy your data, human error can wreak havoc on your business, and a thief can simply steal your computer and its data goes with it!

Archive

Archiving, on the other hand, is a process of determining which files have not changed for a pre-defined period of time, and moving those files to a suitable long-term data storage medium. The purpose of the archive is to provide an effective and efficient system for the long-term storage and retrieval of your data to comply with government, legal and financial requirements. For example, financial records must be kept for a period of at least 7 years, usually more.

Archiving old data also means that you are backing up less data on a daily or weekly basis. This speeds up your backup process and also creates less wear and tear on your backup media.

It is important to remember that data in these archives will be stored for many years, so you need to consider an archive media that is stable and will not deteriorate over time. Examples are DVD and Magneto-Optical drives. Never archive data onto floppy disks as they tend to deteriorate quickly – not to mention their lack of capacity.

The Final Word

While you can now see that the processes of Backup and Archiving are conceptually similar, they differ markedly based on what you are trying to protect and the length of time the data is stored.

There are a wide range of backup and archive solutions available, from tape- and optical-based storage to hard-drive based systems. Each of these systems will require you to consider fit, cost, and ongoing operational expense.

(c) Copyright Newpath IT Pty Ltd, 2006