Backup & Recovery

Chapter 1. The Philosophy of Backup

I back up; therefore, I will be.

When I look at the title of this chapter, I think about the old Steve Martin stand-up routine in which he said that in philosophy class, “you learned just enough to screw you up for the rest of your life.” (Steve studied the important questions, like “Is it OK to yell ‘movie’ in a crowded fire house?” I promise not to do that.) However, “The Philosophy of Backup” did seem like an appropriate name for this chapter, since we’re going to talk about the why of backup. (We’ll also talk a little about the how, of course.)

Champagne Backup on a Beer Budget

A good backup and recovery system is essential for a company of any size. Unfortunately, IT doesn’t always get the budget it needs, and the backup system almost never gets the money that it needs. Well, if you agree that you need a very good backup system, but you don’t have enough money to pull that off, know that this book was written with you in mind. You need champagne backup on a beer budget. Welcome to the club.

Just because you have a small budget doesn’t mean you have to do without backup. Most of the backup systems in this book can be implemented in small environments for a few hundred dollars—including hardware.

Tip

Don’t worry, enterprise customers—there’s plenty in here for you as well. The more you use the techniques taught in this book, the more money you can save for other IT projects. By the time you’re done implementing all the ideas in this book, hopefully ...