Worth Keeping : Motivations

Data backups vary in scope but, in all proper implementations, isolate data from system failures. System failures vary, and proper isolation must address every potential point of failure.

• System failures must not impact availability of backup
• System failures must not compromise backup integrity
• System failures must not propagate through backup

At first blush, system failures may not seem relevant considerations in backup procedures. Consider some typical system failures, however, and relevance becomes more obvious. Data backups inside a stolen computer are, if at all, not efficiently retrievable. Fires or floods compromise electronics and media; other environmental disasters may also complicate data retrieval. Virus infections, trojan applications, and other malicious code become seeds of system failures when included in recovery systems. These, and other, system failure modes indicate advantages of environment and policy designs in backup procedure.

The conditional concern of system failures is not "if they happen"; the concern is "when they happen". Your system will fail. Make sure your investments are protected; backup before your system fails.