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Know How Your Backup Software Works
Although it might seem self-evident, spend some time
learning how your tape backup software actually works. Too
often, we start an automated backup routine only to find
that a month later when we need to restore the data, an
option wasn’t selected correctly and we are out of luck for
a restore.
Tape backup software has become increasingly reliable but as
with any software products, there are now several levels of
options with increased complexity that the operator should
be aware of.
The correct selection of backup options in the software will
to a large extent help determine how “solid” or how robust
the backup is.
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Is
verification after backup turned on?
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Are
email and other notifications to operators set up?
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Is
the backup schedule set correctly?
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Are
the options for full or incremental backup set correctly?
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Is
there an understanding of how media pools and media
retention schedules work?
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Do
you know how to have the tape backup software run batch
files for pre and post tape backup operations?
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Is
the tape backup software properly configured to write to
the server system logs?
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If
you’re backing up a DBMS system, is the software
configured properly to shut down the instance when
required?
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Does
your tape backup software require the use of a special
server user and password, and do you have the password and
login information stored in a safe location?
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Is
your tape backup software configured properly to work with
your anti virus protection software?
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Do
you have the backup disks for the tape backup software in
an accessible location if you need to restore the tape
backup software onto a server? Are the software keys for
the disks readily available?
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Do
you have a plan in place for regularly upgrading the tape
backup software and receiving and applying patches from
the vendor?
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Do
you understand how the scheduling options work in the tape
backup software?
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Do
you understand how to select the files and directories you
want to back up?
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Have
you configured your backups so that a password is required
to restore from tape, and are these login and passwords
information stored in a safe location?
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Do
you have a link to the vendor’s web site and a support
login in case you need to get help quickly?
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