Managing Systems and Workgroups: A Guide for HP-UX System Administrators

Administering a System: Managing Disks and Files
Backing Up Data
Chapter 6 675
Choosing the Type of Storage Device
When you evaluate which media to use to back up your data, consider
the following:
• How much data do you need to back up (rough estimate)?
• How quickly will you need to retrieve the data?
• What types of storage devices do you have access to?
• How automated do you want the process to be? (For example, will an
operator be executing the backup interactively or will it be an
unattended backup?)
• How quickly will you need to complete a backup?
NOTE To ensure against the possible destruction of your system and its data,
store the backup media away from your system.
Use Table 6-11, “Criteria for Selecting Media,” on page 675 to help you
determine which storage device to use for your backups. This table
compares the supported device types relative to each other; it does not
give specific values. For detailed information, consult the documentation
that came with your tape or disk drive for capacity information about the
storage media.
Table 6-11 Criteria for Selecting Media
Storage Device Type
Holds
Lots of
Data?
Recovers
and Backs
Up Data
Quickly?
Suggested
for
Unattended
Backup?
DLT tape drive Excellent Excellent
No
a
DLT tape library Excellent Excellent Yes
DDS format (DAT) tape
drive
Very
Good
Good
No
a
DDS format (DAT) tape
drive autoloader
Very
Good
Good Yes