Backups in Security Systems
To better understand what goes on during incident response or disaster recovery data restoration, you should understand how system backups are created. Data backup is a complex operation and involves selecting the backup type, establishing backup schedules, and even duplicating data automatically using a variety of redundant array of independent drives (RAID) structures.
There are three basic types of backups: full, differential, and incremental. A full backup is just that, a full and complete backup of the entire system, including all applications, operating systems components, and data. The advantage of a full backup is that it takes a comprehensive snapshot of the organization’s system. The primary disadvantages are that it requires a lot ofmedia to store such a large file, and the backup can be time consuming.
A differential backup is the storage of all files that have changed or been added since the last full backup. The differential backup works faster and uses less storage space than the full backup, but each daily differential backup is larger and slower than that of the day before. For example, if you conduct a full backup on Sunday, then Monday’s backup contains all the files that have changed since Sunday, and Tuesday’s backup also contains all the files that have changed since Sunday. By Friday, the file size will have grown substantially.
Also, if one backup is corrupt, the previous day’s backup contains almost all of the same information. The third type of backup is the incremental backup. The incremental backup only archives the files that have been modified that day, and thus requires less space and time than the differential. The downside to incremental backups is that if an incident occurs, multiple backups would be needed to restore the full system.
The first component of a backup and recovery system is the scheduling of the backups, coupled with the storage of these backups. The most common schedule is a daily onsite incremental or
There are three basic types of backups: full, differential, and incremental. A full backup is just that, a full and complete backup of the entire system, including all applications, operating systems components, and data. The advantage of a full backup is that it takes a comprehensive snapshot of the organization’s system. The primary disadvantages are that it requires a lot ofmedia to store such a large file, and the backup can be time consuming.
A differential backup is the storage of all files that have changed or been added since the last full backup. The differential backup works faster and uses less storage space than the full backup, but each daily differential backup is larger and slower than that of the day before. For example, if you conduct a full backup on Sunday, then Monday’s backup contains all the files that have changed since Sunday, and Tuesday’s backup also contains all the files that have changed since Sunday. By Friday, the file size will have grown substantially.
Also, if one backup is corrupt, the previous day’s backup contains almost all of the same information. The third type of backup is the incremental backup. The incremental backup only archives the files that have been modified that day, and thus requires less space and time than the differential. The downside to incremental backups is that if an incident occurs, multiple backups would be needed to restore the full system.
The first component of a backup and recovery system is the scheduling of the backups, coupled with the storage of these backups. The most common schedule is a daily onsite incremental or