Archive vs Backup Backup is not Archiving

 

Overview 

In the past, companies have viewed backup and archive as the same process, but they are two distinct processes. Backup is a periodic copy of data taken in the event of a failure. Archives are for long-term retention and management of digital information. Not only is their role in the storage hierarchy different but so is their design and function.

When organizations treat backup as archive they introduce a tremendous amount of risk into the preservation of key corporate information. The long-term retention of valuable corporate digital assets is now subject to backup policies and associated reliability concerns. Effective discovery and recall of information from backup systems is impractical at best and oftentimes impossible. And, we all understand that backup processes and underlying technologies can be unreliable.

However, when organizations establish defined archives they create processes to ensure that critical business information is sustained over time, and easy to access. Archives are searchable and contain strong policy management for retention and disposal. Well managed archives become a source of value to business where backup is simply a safety net.

To learn more about the business process of archive, visit Business Archive Management best practices section.

Advantages

There are many unique advantages to treating archives separate from backup. These include:

Faster Backups – When static data is contained in backups, it is copied every time a backup is made. For some organizations, static data makes up 50% to 80% of their backup volume. By removing this static data from the production backup workload, and maintaining it on a managed archive, full backups run significantly faster – freeing valuable resources.

Search – When information is copied within backup processes, it is at the mercy of the backup file formats. Typically, these file formats are not easily searchable and can require a full data restore. This process is time and labor consuming. True archives contain global namespaces, consolidated indexes and robust search functions to facilitate powerful search – saving you time and money, and enabling e-discovery.

Secure Second Copies – By using defined archives, a secure second copy of archive information can be made. These second copies fall under the policy management process of the archive to ensure they are not accidentally deleted or tampered with. The ability to implement an immutable secure second copy using backup is difficult at best. A removable disaster recovery copy can also be managed by the archive.

Less Backup Resources – When static data is removed from the backup process, and stored on an archive, fewer tapes, drives and disk space are required to execute the primary backup process – saving you time and money.

Governance – When archived information is contained in the backup process, backup and governance policies come in conflict. By moving archive information out of the backup process, organizations can manage key data governance concerns more effectively and e-discovery requirements can easily be met.

Make it Happen

Over the last 20 years, Plasmon has worked with leading companies to build world-class business archives. We have taken this experience and transformed it into a series of best practices to guide organizations. If you are interested in creating an archive infrastructure, read about Business Archive Management. These best practices will help you take the steps to move away from trying to use backup as an archive to a true professional grade archive.

For more information on Plasmon Optical Libraries and Archival Solutions contact the NAS sales team on 0870 752 6250 or complete and submit your contact details on the form provided under Contact Us