10 Disk backup
In this chapter
This chapter introduces the concepts associated with backing up data to disk and the technologies that enable it. It also discusses the disk-to-disk backup configurations that are supported by Data Protector.
It is organized as follows:
“Overview” on page 253
“Disk backup benefits” on page 254
“Data Protector disk-based devices” on page 255
Overview
Industry has requirements for increasingly faster methods of backing up and restoring data. In addition, it has become more and more important that the time required for data backup and restore be reduced to a minimum so as not to interrupt the day-to-day running of company applications.
Many applications and databases frequently make small changes to existing files or produce many new files containing business-critical data throughout the working day. These files need to be backed up immediately to guarantee the data in them will not be lost. This requirement means that a fast medium that can store large amounts of data that works without interruption is necessary for storing data.
Disk-based storage media have become increasingly cheaper in recent years. At the same time, the storage capacity of disks has risen. This has led to the availability of low-cost, high-performance single disks and disk arrays for storing data.
Disk backup (also known as disk-to-disk backup) is becoming ever more important. In the past, tape storage was the favored medium for backup and restore because of its price and effectiveness in meeting disaster recovery requirements. Today, more and more businesses are augmenting their tape storage backup solutions with faster disk-based backup solutions. This ensures faster data backup and recovery.