WHAT ARE THE DATA BACKUP METHODS?

Data is among the most valuable assets of all businesses today. Therefore, it is vital to take precautions against data loss and to have uninterrupted access to the data. In order to ensure this continuity, both infrastructures and data backup are inevitable. At the basis of the concept of business, continuity is the idea of accessing data at any time, in any condition, and from anywhere. Sometimes, even very short system disruptions are not acceptable, as businesses provide time-dependent services in competitive environments. Continuing issues in data centers can be determined as backing up IT equipment, backing up data, and even backing up the data center physically, or in other words, setting up disaster recovery centers.

BACKING UP IT EQUIPMENT

Although the main purpose of all infrastructure services such as energy infrastructure, air conditioning, fire extinguishing, cabling, security, monitoring is to protect the data, IT equipment that stores and provides access should also be protected and backed up. As for business continuity, all devices such as servers, network devices, storage units, firewalls should be designed as active-active or active-passive. Here, active-active means working with redundancy simultaneously, and if active-passive, it means waiting for the spare one to start automatically when there is a problem in the main device.

Backup processes can be applied to all components, from IT equipment to internet access. Providing data center processes without backed-up systems may cause problems at any point in this process, inaccessibility of the system for a long time, or in some cases permanent data damage.

BACKING UP DATA

Backing up data is one of the most basic measures in data centers. Irreversible losses may occur in businesses if the backed up data cannot be recovered when needed or if a backup is not already done. Therefore, two issues on the backup side are on the agenda. The first is the successful backup process, and the second is that the backed up data can be recovered as required in case of need.

At the point reached by today's technology, the backup can be done between different sources by several methods. The backup process can be made automatically to the backup cartridges in the backup units or storage units at the hours and days determined by a backup application. The specified hour, day, or backup frequency is determined in proportion to the amount of data, density, and criticality.

BACKUP TYPES

·         Firstly, when deciding on the type of backup to be applied, the needs must be determined correctly. There are three different types of backups: full, differential, and incremental. Recently, the fourth method, "singularization" is also used extensively. Although the mostly full backup method is used, we can say that they all have their advantages and disadvantages.

·         FULL BACKUP

·         All the data selected in the full backup is backed up as it is. This method is the safest method since all the data is backed up. Therefore, it is the most time-consuming method. The full backup method is used when any work is carried out or situations where risk is observed.

·         DIFFERENTIAL BACKUP

This method does not back up all data as in the full backup method. Needs the latest or full incremental backup. After the latest full or incremental backups, it backs up only the changed data. By backing up only the changed data, the backup process is completed in a shorter time than the full backup. It saves space in the area where the data will be backed up.

Although it is very advantageous in this respect, it is a disadvantage that it needs a full or incremental backup taken before it when restoring the data. If the data that was backed up with a full or incremental backup before it is damaged or the data cannot be accessed during the data recovery phase, the last difference cannot be restored. For example, after the data is backed up with the full backup method on Monday, only the changed data is backed up for the other days. Data from the full backup of Monday is also needed to restore.

·         INCREMENTAL BACKUP

In the incremental backup method, the data changed after the last backup operation is backed up. The incremental backup method is similar to the differential backup method, but it has important differences. The purpose of this method is to save space in the area where the data is backed up and to make the backup process shorter.

For example; If the backup operation is continued with the incremental backup method after the full backup operation is performed on Monday, the data that is changed after the previous day will be backed up every day. Therefore, when an incremental backup is performed, a backup of all data is required until the day of the full backup.

·         DEDUPLICATION

In the singularization process with an advanced algorithm, the data to be backed up is divided into parts. However, if previously partitioned data is backed up, only the address where the backed-up partition is kept is saved as a reference. In other words, backed up parts are not backed up and the data is restored from this address if needed. This process is highly beneficial in terms of time and cost. Apart from backup, operating systems and storage units are now designed in this way.

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