Disk-to-Disk Backup
http://globaltap.com/disktodisk.html
In almost any Internet business, data is becoming the cornerstone asset. Whether you have an E-commerce web server or a specialized application server, losing data can be disastrous. This is why we at Globaltap have built a state-of-the-art data storage system for our clients. Extremely fast Fibre Channel network, specially designed and built with data storage in mind, ties together storage devices with multiple layers of redundancy. Our RAID storage devices have multiple hot-spares, and are constantly monitored for any signs of impending problems.
Once your server is connected to the Globaltap Advantage Storage Area Network you can get as much, or as little, storage as you need at the unbelievably low price of $0.50 per GB per month. An E-commerce web server running Linux or Windows only needs about 12GB on average. That is only $6 per month.
The Globaltap Advantage storage system allows you to add more storage to your server on the fly, without any reboots or interruptions.
If your server fails for any reason, such as a power supply failure, or a bad CPU cooling fan, we can instantly provide you with a different machine connected to our Fibre Channel network, boot it using your server image and you will be up and running in a matter of minutes.
Call us now to connect your server to Globaltap Advantage Storage Network, and stop worrying about disk failures now.
Could you please explain that in simple words if possible?
decibel.places posted this at 14:47 — 19th November 2008.
He has: 1,494 posts
Joined: Jun 2008
As you are probably aware, TWF recently experienced catastrophic server failure without backup - the data was eventually recovered forensically, as the disk was not operable.
It sounds like the service is backing up your data remotely as disk image, a compact storage file that can be used to reconstruct your server files in case of failure on the main server.
I would ask whether the backups are kept in a different location than the active server, which is a better guarantee of recovery.
Even with a subscription to a remote backup service, it is a good idea to set up your own backups regularly, you can't be too careful.
Don't forget to back up your database(s), I do not see any discussion of this critical protection. Drupal has a handy Backup and Migrate module that will perform scheduled database backups on your server and you can download them in minutes.
pr0gr4mm3r posted this at 15:29 — 19th November 2008.
He has: 1,502 posts
Joined: Sep 2006
They aren't backing up your images, they are just stored on a RAID setup, protecting you from a disk failure. This will not, however, protect you from intruders or viruses. If a malicious person gets into your server and deletes all your data, you are SOL. That is what happened to VPSVille. A hacker deleted all the data after hacking in, it wasn't a disk failure.
Bottom line is that if you want a backup solution that protect against accidentally deletion, hardware failure, viruses, etc. - you need it off-site. RAID setups are nice, but it doesn't cover all the bases.
Greg K posted this at 16:44 — 19th November 2008.
He has: 2,145 posts
Joined: Nov 2003
I think the main gist of why they give a long explanation is to explain that the data your server uses is not on the same physical machine.
I have seen this, where there is a SAN server that web servers tie into to use (similar to having a dedicated SQL server instead of actually on the same machine physically). Set up properly you can have not only raid with redundant drives, but actual redundant servers as well.
As the others have said, all the redundancy means nothing if someone hacks in and deletes the files, because it will just be redundant on deleting them. Backup is critical. Even more critical is backup that is ONE WAY. Data can be written to the backup server, not deleted except by the backup server itself (ie, after it is rotated out of timeframe).
Also needed is remote backup as well to another site as mentioned. All the backup in the world means nothing if it is destroyed along with the originals.
-Greg
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