Backup vs. Disaster Recovery

Since the introduction of the “Windows Operating Systems”, Backup and Restoration has become a much more complicated subject.

Prior to Windows OS, PC’s were single-tasking; therefore, when the backup program was running, no other programs were running. Thus, they could be safely and completely backed-up; and subsequently restored.

Windows is a multi-tasking program where multiple programs are running simultaneously. Many of these programs, or tasks, “lock” their data files so they are unavailable to other programs – including the backup program.  Email programs are a good example where data is typically “locked” from other programs running at the same time. In addition, the OS has many procedures running, and “locks” and “controls” many of the critical OS files, prohibiting access to them by other programs, including the Backup Program. Therefore, a file-by-file backup procedure is generally not sufficient to restore a complete OS.

The Windows multi-tasking environment has been great for productivity, but it has significantly complicated the process of Backup and recovery.

Windows Server OS do have certain features to address these issues; however, they leave a lot to be desired and are less than reliable and extremely difficult to set up. (e.g. Windows Servers have the ability to “Mirror” the OS hard disk drive to a 2^nd hard disk drive. The mirrored HDD is an exact replica of the OS HDD. Therefore, if you delete a file from the primary HDD, it is deleted from the 2^nd HDD; should system files become corrupt on the OS HDD, they become corrupt on the 2^nd HDD) The mirror feature offers protection mainly for a complete hardware failure of the primary HDD, it offers little or no protection from software failures or operator issues.

The best solution to backing up a Windows OS installation is to “Image” the Hard Drive – Bit-by-Bit – an exact copy or image. There are 3^rd Party Programs that offer this feature – Image Backup. The problem with most of these programs is that the PC that is being backed up must not be running the Windows OS during the backup process – In other words, the PC is booted in the DOS OS. This is not practical. If this were to be done during business hours, all users would need to log-off of the server; and if this were done after hours, an operator would need to be present to perform the operation.

The term “Backup” is normally associated with user data; while the term “Disaster Recovery” is usually associated with the ability to completely restore system operations after a major hardware or OS failure rendering the entire system inoperable; or even a theft or natural disaster, which could completely destroy the hardware.