Search
Recommended Products
Related Links

 

 

Informative Articles

Backing Up Your Stuff Part 6: Where Is It #2?
Paint Shop Pro In my humble opinion, Paint Shop Pro is one of the best bargains available on the internet. This inexpensive (less than $100) shareware program provides most of the functions of the far more expensive Adobe Photoshop with a better...
Getting help - using mailing lists
Getting help - using mailing lists What is a mailing list? It's a discussion group that converses by e-mail. Mailing lists cover a wide variety of topics, at all levels. Many lists have a moderator, who will check posts for suitability before the...
Internet Security: Backups
A vital part of any security scheme is backup. No matter how tight your security is, you always have the chance that a virus or hacker or even your 5 year old kid is going to slip through your defenses and damage your system and your vital data...
Overcoming Procrastination And Starting Your Software Project
Many independent developers have the problem of procrastinating on getting started on their own software projects because they don't know where to start or which idea to work on. A flurry of indecision and uncertainty or desire for instant...
Play Online Slot Machine Game
Coin in - spin - hold your breath......Watch those symbols.....Will it or won't it? Heart racing ..... the dials slow down and IT'S A WINNER!!!! Three bells in a row! But wait - there's more to come - The screen is flashing, bells are ringing,...
 
Google
Alternatives to Tape Backup

You may ask, isn't tape an anachronism in the age of optical disks, removable hard drives and a plethora of whiz-bang, random-access storage media? In many ways it is, but because of the nature of backup it doesn't really matter that tape is slow and sequential-access. Remember, tape is cheap. Businesses use tape because they find it to be a cost-effective backup solution.

However, if you have any problems with tape backup, you'll probably be interested to know that there are several alternatives to tape.

Backup to NAS devices

NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices are attached directly to your network and can act as a backup store. Obviously, it's very convenient to backup files to NAS, as there are no disks or tapes to insert and remove. There are many NAS devices specially designed for small businesses. NAS is an excellent choice for network backup.

Backup to REV drive

In April 2004, Iomega released the REV drive - a new storage device that has greater capacity than tape and is 5 to 8 times faster. Key features are:

* Backup to REV drive is much faster than tape backup.
* REV drive units are more durable than


tape.
* While tape requires regular cleaning, no cleaning is required for REV drive units.
* Backup to REV drive may in fact prove more cost-effective for your business than tape, depending on your backup scheme and other factors.

Otherwise, REV backup is very similar to tape backup in principle.

Final notes

Several reliable backup software solutions exist. Choosing one is simply a case of deciding which is most suitable for your business. As always, invest in quality backup software. Rather than purchasing specialist REV backup software and NAS backup software, your choice in software should allow backup to numerous devices. You will then be able to change your backup hardware in the future without buying new software.

About the Author

Linus Chang is a backup expert and the lead developer of BackupAssist - backup software that is simple and affordable, and perfect for small and medium businesses. Protect your Windows servers, including SQL Server and Exchange Server, to tape, REV drive, hard drive, NAS and more, at a fraction of the cost of other backup programs. For more information visit http://www.backupassist.com.