[H-GEN] Assistance Required

[Jason Henry Parker]

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Arjen Lentz <arjen at mysql.com> writes:

> On Wed, 2002-03-27 at 10:14, Jason Henry Parker wrote:

> But to backup things like contact/customer database, e-mails, business
> administration (invoices, fin.books, etc), etc.... a CD-R can do a very
> nice job with very little hassle for the user.

Ah, now this is a beast of a different colour indeed!

> This is important, because in a small company, there won't be an IT
> person looking after the backups. It'll probably be the owner, and they
> will have many things on their mind, few of which are technology
> related. If technology is only a tool, that tool must be as easy as
> possible.

Well, I'm of the opinion that most people need IT staff more than they
think, but I'll accept the premise as representative of the Real
World.

> In the minds of many, changing a CD is still easier than running a
> rotating schedule of tapes...

Could be.  I don't much like the idea of leaving the OS (let's face
it, that's the majority of the data in this case) not backed up, and
the financials or whatever not coming under review.  I'd suggest
having a professional come in, create a backup system (a small one,
just as you describe), *on the understanding* that they'll be back in
3 or 6 months to check if things need to be ramped up.

As for the rotating schedule of tapes, when I created my first shot at
a backup system, I simply labelled the tapes (there were only three)
as red, green, and blue; and sent email via a simple script to
indicate which tape needed to be changed in on Friday.  Easy-peasy.

(Although this does remind me of when our tape unit went gaga:
apparently labelling the tapes (DDS3) was the major cause of unit
failure; little bits of the label would rub off and land in the
gearings of the unit!  After some jollying about I managed to have the
supplier send an advance unit so we weren't without.  Phew!)

jason
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|                                                      jasonp at uq.net.au |
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