Ask the Network Guy!

In looking to solve your issue I came across two main solutions.  Solution 1 is to purchase a larger tape drive and continue to work within a tape structure.

The second solution uses RAID NAS Storage devices to solve the backup issues.   Let us explore both options and the costs involved for eash as well as some pros and cons.  In order to evaluate the two different media styles it would be best to list some objectives / criteria for the items being backed up.

1.       We want the backup system to be able to backup all data as well as OS configurations so that the OS of any machine can be restored.

2.       We want the backup system to not require someone to contantly be monitoring or having to require multiple tapes unless the tape handles the tapes automatically.

3.       The backup solution needs to be able to backup all data nightly and specific servers/workstations once a week.

4.       The backup system needs to accommodate 100% growth in data/os storage.

5.       Small businesses with 3-5 workstions and 1 server, total storage needs to backup all OS’s and data equals between 200 and 300 GIGS.

Most small businesses used the Travan Tape Style for years because the tape drives used an IDE interface and would accommodate either 20 or 40 Gigs of data, but this really was a solution to cover the data and not the OS of the server, or any of the workstations.  At the time these units were very popular and the amount of data being backed up was within the contraints of a single tape.  Now with the data explosion as well as high speed internet, downloads are larger, files are larger and as we can see from the information above, we really need a device that can handle several hundred gigs per tape.

·         Tape Drive that can handle between 200 and 400GBs data ranges from $700 to $1800.00 depending on tape cartridge type

·         Tape Drive to manage between 800 and 1400 Gbs data range in price from $ 1200 and $3500, again depending on type.

In order to backup the OS’s of the server and the workstations we will need special software that can connect to workstations on the network.

Software for the server cost $600, and $80 per workstation to begin backed up process.

So the going with average prices of a 400GB tape drive, adding in 10 tapes, software and client licenses (5) the solutions cost approximitely $2700.00 not including tax and labor to have the solution installed and tested.  How did we do concerning the objectives?

·         It will backup all servers and workstations – Objective met

·         It requires user intervention, but will only need 1 tape – objective partially met

·         The software will do this without an issue, objective met

·         So long as the client is on the lower end (closer to 200GB date) then this solution will met this objective.  Otherwise the objective was not met

Overall this soltion meets the goals about 50 to 75% of the time.

Pros:

1.       Easy to take media off-site for storage in a safe place
2.       To add some additional capacity one can run backups across multiple tapes, more human intervention, but allows for data to be backed up.
3.       Great tool to archive items for legal purposes.  Special backups can be run for example to capture all accounting data then stored off-site, or email, or projects.

Cons:

1.       Tapes are not always trustworth, they can fail at the worst possible time
2.       Data location change, folders move around, office environments are not static
3.       Most server based applications require specialized software to back them up, thus adding to the cost and the amount of time needed to massage the data to tape.
4.       Security issues, data on tapes is usually not encrypted.NAS Raid Storage Solution:

NAS (Network Attached Storage) Solution:

As businesses grow and the amount of data grows, businesses are looking for places where all computers on the network can connect to store large amounts of data.  The NAS Storage solution helps solve the problem, and is a good back up strategy for some businesses.  My recommnedation would be the following:

Hardware Options:

·         NAS Storage device that uses 2 hard drives in a RAID 1 (mirror configuration) ranges from $190 to $250.00 and up.
·         NAS Storage device that uses 4 drives in a RAID 5 (striped disks with parity) Which allows for both speed and data protection range from $350.00 and up depending on what features that one wantes.
·         Disk Drives, average cost of a 1TB hard drive is $130.00, price varies on model, make, etc.

Software:

·         Symantec Ghost, the price varies depending on the number of licenses needed but average price is $69.95 per workstation.

In building out the NAS solution, I started with a dual drive bay and 2-1TB drives.  I then wanted to make sure that I would be able to backup the server and five workstations.  The average cost for hardware and software for this solution came in around $870.00.  This does not include the labor and taxes that would be charged.  So the initial savings is around $2000.00 between implementing a NAS solution over a tape drive solution.  But how did we do on the other objectives.

·         Using the Ghost software we can create a full image of all server and workstation systems on the network – Objective met

·         By writing a few scripts and utilizing the tasks features within Ghost we can fully automate this process – Objective met

·         Using schedules all data and OS will be automated to a specific time slot- objective met

·         As for accomodating growth, this solution allows for about 3 times the amount of data being stored currently, objective met.

Overall this solution met all goals at 100% met, and the price was right.

Pros:

·         System can be fully automated, no tapes to worry about, no further expense. 
·         Additional NAS units can be installed later to accommodate future data
·         Data retrieval is fast; one just finds the files need and copy and paste them back to where they are needed.
·         Can go to local computer store if a drive fails to replace failed mirror drive.  No need to special order any hardware.·         Maintains security·         Easy to maintain

Cons:

·         Cannot take NAS Unit off-site easily for off-site storage
·         Cannot add more drives to RAID system, would need to add second NAS unit for more storage.
·         Archiving data would require a DVD drive to burn data to a disk to be stored off-site.

For my business needs, I think that the NAS solution provides the best resources wile staying within a budget.