Backing up and Archiving Data Chapter 1

Introduction This presentation covers the following: – What is backing up – What is archiving – Why are both necessary?

Backing up Backing up data is a practice that all organisations and people who work with data should do. Some people consider data to be a company’s most important asset. The loss of any data can have a detrimental impact on an individual or an organisation (no matter the size). Backing up data is simply making a copy of current data.

Backing up There are many causes of data loss: – Loss of power – Hardware failure – File corruption – Viruses – Hackers – Theft of equipment – Sabotage of an employee – Espionage by a rival company – Natural Disaster – Honest blunders! – Accidently misplacing data

Backing up Back ups can be used to restore lost files by replacing them with a previously saved file. You might not always get the most up-to-date file but consider the alternative...starting your work from the beginning again!

Methods of backing up There are many devices which can be used to back up files: – External memory: Memory cards, USB pen drives – External hard drive – Tape – Making an exact copy of a disk

Backing up In the event that you need to find a file which has been backed up you need to be able to find the file you need! This means that back ups need to be organised. If you have made several backups of a file you need to be able to tell which is the most recent backup!

Things to consider How often do you need to back up? How far should your backups go? – Days – Weeks – Months

Archiving Archiving is for long-term storage of data that is not required immediately. More often than not it is never required again but it kept just in case. Data is often removed from a system and stored separately.

Archiving Consider the following example: A school records data about pupils’ performance every year. If they continued to collect data, even after pupils had left school, the system resources would soon diminish. Instead, records about pupils are removed from the system once they leave. However, some data may be archived such as average test scores and achievement rates. The data is not needed immediately but may be useful to keep for the future.

Archiving Schools often keep full records about pupils for up to seven years. Schools often receive requests to complete references and use the data in their archives to compile them.

Archiving Procedure Copy the file onto the archival media. Verify the copied files (i.e. Making sure the copies are the same). Delete the original records from the system.

Reasons for archiving Free up system resources – Less hard disk space required Increase system performance – Searches take less time as their is less data to search through – Takes less time to make backups of the system as there is less to copy!

Take note: Using an example, define what is meant by the term ‘back- up’. Using an example, define what is meant by the term ‘archive’. Why is it important to back up data? What is the difference between archiving and back-up of data? What storage medium should be used for archiving?

Remember Archiving is removing! Backing up is copying!