January, 2003 CCS News: Computer Backups - Making the Most of a Critical Service

January, 2003

Computer Backups - Making the Most of a Critical Service

Doing regular backups of your computer data is one of the most important ways you can protect your computer. While a number of Lab organizations have created their own systems for data backups, the Computing Infrastructure Support (CIS) Department offers several options for employees who may not have the time, inclination or expertise to do their own backups.

However, regardless of the method, data backups aren't foolproof. Computer users can take a few easy steps to help ensure that the maximum number of files are protected and that recovered data are easily restored to the system. Here are some tips from Chris Manders, leader of CIS's Backup services effort, for employees who use one of the Lab's centralized backup services.

Open files
If a file is left open during the backup, that file may not be properly caught. We highly recommended that all work be saved and closed before the backups run, otherwise those open files might not be captured correctly in backups.

Included and excluded files
It makes sense that folks should verify that what they expect to be backing up are indeed being backed up. Users of the Lab's backup services can check the 'Backup Browser' to check, or use the monthly summary email reports at the end of each month to check that the files and folders and directories they expect are indeed getting backed up correctly. If they aren't, you can contact Backup Services by calling X2587 (BKUP) to get your data correctly backed up. If the data that you wish to back up is not being captured with daily or monthly backups, then retrieving the data in a "restore request" will not be possible.

Daily backup error notifications
If errors are found in backups for an ongoing period, a restore request will not be possible, or will be less reliable than if the issue is dealt with. The most common problem that causes error notification is when the backups are not scheduled appropriately. If a nightly backup is requested and the machine is turned off each night, then that can cause a failure. If this is the case, just let us know via email to backups@lbl.gov or via phone at B-K-U-P and we can change the schedule to reflect your needs, which may be to schedule backups during the day.

Self-restores
If you choose to do a "self restore" of your backed up data, remember that if you try to restore that same day's data, the tapes needed might be currently in use. This will cause the restore request to hang for a potentially long time until the tape is not in use, finally allowing the restore. By leaving out the most recent backups (normally these only contain incremental changes to files for those days) the restore will be completed very quickly. This way, the bulk of files will be restored and ready for use while another restore process of the last few days can then be run and allowed to take some time. If faster restores are needed, please call us and we can possibly facilitate a faster turnaround for the restore process.