[ The PC Guide | System Care Guide | Backups and Disaster Recovery ]

Backup Scheduling and Media Rotation Systems

In order to provide maximum safety for your data, it is important to plan out a backup schedule that will allow you the most flexibility and reliability in recovering from potential disasters. This means, in almost every case, the use of multiple backup media and a backup schedule that dictates when each set of media should be used. The amount of media needed depends on how safe you want to be, and what sort of retention period you are looking to maintain for your data. This section takes a look at scheduling backups and setting up a media rotation system, including providing several sample media rotation systems that provide different levels of protection (at appropriate levels of cost).

Note: I use the term "media set" in this section, to refer to the media required to perform a backup. This might be a single tape, a group of Zip disks, or whatever.

Next: Retention Period

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