Backup Plan Template

October 22nd, 2007 | Category: Technology

A backup plan template enables you to keep your backup information in a readily accessible format so you can easily read or restore information when and if required. The main backup types for offsite data backup vary in style and type. Here you will find a description for the primary types of backup used.

Backup Plan Template

Free Form

In this type of backup, no structure is maintained. All the data available is copied simply. It is usually a set of simple storage media like floppies or CDs in which the data is dumped without any form or order. This type of backup is the easiest to maintain but has the most chance of failing on recovery.

Full

This is the beginning point of all off site data backup. In this method, all the data in the folders and files are copied. The full backup is the ideal of all methods as it has the advantage of successful data recovery. Since it is the most comprehensive, a single full backup can be used to completely restore the entire data. On the other hand, full data backup is very time consuming and occupies a lot of space on the storage media. A media containing a full backup falling into improper hands can be a serious security issue.

Incremental

In Incremental backup, all the files that have changed since the last backup are copied. This type of backup is very fast and convenient. The storage space requirement is also small. However, while restoring, each incremental backup has to be processed individually. This is a very painstaking and time-consuming process.

Mirror

A mirror backup creates an exact copy of the entire data. It is similar to full backup but the files are uncompressed and not protected by a password. Since the data is copied as it is on to a separate destination, the files can be accessed easily even with tools like Windows Explorer. The restoration also just requires copying back the files to the original location.

Continuous Data Protection

This kind of backup is employed at locations where the data is very critical. In this setup, there is no scheduled time for backup. As soon as the data changes, the alteration is logged and the data is secure. This is a time and resource intensive method but is essential for the security of crucial data.

This is an illustration of the different type of backups available. While doing an offsite, data backup, compare all these types of backups and select the one most suitable to your needs. Usually a mix of two or more types is used for the security of crucial data.

So before getting your backup plan template you need to consider just how you plan to backup your computer data.

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