In survey after survey, when data storage administrators are asked what their No. 1 pain point is, the answer is almost always data backup. Even with declining storage budget dollars, the demand to back up
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more and more data is never
ending, and storage administrators are still being asked to make their data backup and recovery
operations even more efficient. Storage administrators at small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs)
often even have a tougher job because their tasks are the same as admins at larger enterprises, yet
they often have less resources and manpower.
To help you make your job easier, we've collected our top five tutorials and tips on small business data backup. In these data backup tutorials for small businesses, learn about using tape backup, the pros and cons of disk-based backup and about the newest data backup option for small business backup -- cloud backup.
TIP #1-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tape
backup and recovery tutorial
Independent backup and recovery expert W. Curtis
Preston gives you the skinny on tape backup in this tutorial. What role should tape play in
your backup plan? How do you choose the right tape library for your enterprise? And how do you take
care of magnetic media and backup tapes? Get the answers to all of your tape storage questions in
this tutorial from SearchDataBackup on tape
backup and recovery.
TIP #2-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Choosing
an affordable backup tape library
Is it time to buy a new backup tape library? How do you know you're getting the best deal, and how
do you know what size is right for your current and future storage needs? In this FAQ with Greg
Schulz, founder and senior analyst with The Storage IO Group, learn about what features you should
look for when upgrading to a new backup tape library, what vendors offer tape libraries targeted to
SMBs, and tape
backup alternatives. In this FAQ guide, read about choosing
an affordable tape library for SMBs.
TIP #3-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Implementing
disk backup storage systems
Is it time for your company to make the switch from tape to disk-based backup? Many SMBs are
searching for reliable, easy and economical data
backup storage systems. In this small business data backup tutorial, learn about the pros and
cons of using a disk backup storage system, whether or not a disk backup is right for your company,
and disk technologies like virtual tape libraries and data deduplication. Learn how to implement
a disk backup storage system for small business data backup in this tutorial.
TIP #4-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data
deduplication technology tutorial
Data
deduplication technology is now a common feature across all disk backup products, with
practically every major enterprise data storage vendor offering at least one data deduplication
product. In SearchDataBackup's data deduplication technology tutorial, learn about all of the data
dedupe alternatives and take a look at some of the most significant deduplication backup products.
Learn about global data deduplication, what to look for in a data deduplication product, inline vs.
post-processing deduplication, and more. Learn everything about data
deduplication technology in this tutorial.
TIP #5-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cloud,
disk or tape: Choosing the right data backup and recovery method
Choosing the right data
backup and recovery method for any company can be difficult, sometimes even more so for smaller
businesses. Cloud data
backup, disk-based
backup and tape
backup all have their strengths and weaknesses, making it difficult for an small business to
choose a specific option. Since each option is capable of meeting basic data backup needs, the
solution to choosing the correct backup method for a small business is for them to distinguish
their specific data backup needs and priorities. Learn all about cloud, disk and tape backup and choosing the
right data backup and recovery method.
Editor's tip: For even more information on backup for smaller business, bookmark our
special section on small
business data backup news, trends and tips.
This was first published in March 2010