Review of data backup and recovery systems in the global and Russian markets. Tasks and means of backup and storage of data Development of a backup system

11.07.2020 Windows 7, XP

Protecting data (which includes installed software) from deletion or corruption is not an easy task, even in the absence of deliberate actions on the part of intruders. As a rule, to solve it, it is required to use a set of software and technical measures, the main of which are:

data backup;

thoughtful setting and maintenance of the required ("safe") values of the system parameters;

advance installation and development of specialized data recovery software.

The listed measures should be foreseen at the stage of development of the organization's security policy and reflected in the relevant regulatory documents (in the document on the security policy, in the private instructions of structural units and in the official duties of the executors).

Data backup

Backup can be considered a panacea for almost all situations involving data loss or corruption. However, backup will be a truly universal "medicine" only if you follow the rules for its use. Specifics of restoring various types of data based on backups will be given in the respective chapters of the section now Let's look at the general principles of backups.

Archiving and backing up

These two concepts are so often used together in publications and when working with data that sometimes they even begin to be perceived as synonyms. In fact, although archiving and backup are great "friends", they are not twins or relatives at all.

what is behind each of these terms?

Archiving very close to the creation of non-computer, "paper" archives. An archive is a place adapted for storing documents that have either lost their relevance or are used relatively rarely.

The documents in the archive are usually ordered (but by date, by logic, by authorship, etc.). This allows you to quickly find the document of interest, correctly add a new document or delete an unnecessary one.

Almost all of the above features are also inherent in electronic archives. Moreover, the leading role in their creation is played by the ability of archiving programs to compress the archived data, thereby saving space for their storage. It was this ability of archivers that "made friends" them with backup programs, but more on this later.

Target Reserve copy on a computer - to increase the reliability of storing those data, the loss of which may upset (to put it mildly) their owner. For especially valuable data, two or more backups can be created. Typically, backups have two interrelated problems. : what data to copy, and how often... On the one hand, the more often the copy is performed, the less effort will have to be spent on recovering a document that has been lost, for example, due to a hard disk failure. On the other hand, creating each new copy takes a lot of time and storage space. In many cases, it is the use of compression methods implemented in archiving programs that allows you to select the appropriate parameters for the backup procedure. Essential difference between backup and archiving is that at least one backup copy must be created not on the hard disk storing the original, but on an alternative medium (CD, etc.).

One more the difference between archiving and backing up is given below.

You can create archive, including rarely used data, and save it either directly on the hard disk of the computer, or (which is preferable, but not necessary) on another medium. And after that oudpour source files (originals).

Procedure backup involves the mandatory preservation of the original(that is, the data with which the user works). Backups are primarily intended to enhance the safety of data that continues to be used in work (that is, they periodically change). So backups should also be periodicallyski update... In this case, the use of additional data carriers (storage devices) is mandatory. Ideally, separate storage media should be set aside for each copy.

Today there are many software products for providing data backup technology. At the corporate level, products are used such as:

Acronis True Image Home.

Paragon Drive Backup Server Edition.

Symantec Backup Exec.

Windows System Recovery.

For network backup:

Paragon Drive Backup Enterprise Server Edition.

Acronis Backup & Recovery.

A further review of backup technologies will be based on the description of the practical use of the following three software products:

Paragon Drive backup Workstation.

Acronis True Image Home.

GFI backup software overview

General characteristics.

System requirements:

Microsoft Windows 7 (x86 or x64), Server 2008

(x86 or x64), Vista (x86 or x64), Server 2003 Standard / Enterprise

(x86 or x64), XP (x86 or x64)

Processor - Intel Pentium 4 or similar

Memory - 512 MB

Physical memory - 100 MB for installation

Specifications:

1. Safe and reliable data backup and recovery.

GFI backup provides centralized management of backup and recovery as protection against information loss, preventing the loss of data such as spreadsheets, projects and images. This process involves creating a backup from a source to a selected location.

2. Synchronization of data.

File syncing is the process of maintaining the current set of files in multiple locations, such as a workstation and laptop. If a user adds, removes, or modifies a file in one location, GFI Backup adds, removes, or modifies the same file in all other locations. Using the GFI Backup Agent, users can create their own synchronization tasks in addition to centralized backups.

3. Backup to any storage device; backup via FTP.

GFI Backup allows you to back up to internal and external hard drives, local network drives, network storage devices, storage media

CD / DVD / Bluray, portable devices (USB devices, memory sticks, flash memory, floppy disks, etc.), as well as to remote locations via FTP with an auto-renewal system.

6. Using standard Zip archives.

Unlike other backup software, GFI Backup does not use proprietary archive formats, but uses the standard Zip format. This allows

restore data manually even if GFI Backup is not installed. There is a choice of creating self-extracting archives as well as uncompressed backups for speed and redundancy. When using Zip archives, GFI Backup is capable of splitting and saving files across multiple media.

The means for backing up information can be divided into several categories:
- For home / office use (backing up important documents, photos, etc. to NAS or the cloud);
- For medium and large (offline) enterprises (backup of important documents, reports, databases, etc. both on servers and on workstations of employees);
- For small web projects (backup files and databases from a hosting site or VPS / VDS to a remote host (or vice versa));
- For large web projects with a distributed architecture (almost the same as in offline enterprises, only taking into account the work in the global network, not the local one, and as a rule with the use of open source tools).

With software products for home and office, everything is quite simple, there are a lot of solutions, both open and proprietary, from cmd / bash scripts to solutions from well-known software manufacturers.
In the enterprise sector, everything is rather boring there is a mass of software products that have been successfully working for a long time at many enterprises, in large banks, etc., we will not advertise anyone. Many of these products have made the life of sysadmins really easy, for "modest money" by some enterprise standards.
In this article, we will take a closer look at open source solutions for backing up web projects of various sizes, as well as test the speed of file backups.
The article will be useful for webmasters, small web studios, and maybe even a seasoned admin will find something useful here.

What do you need to reserve a small site or blog, or several sites, for example, from a VPS-ki on which disk space is end-to-end?
A reservation to a remote host is suggested. Those. to save precious space on your hosting or VPS, you can connect, for example, from your home / office computer (perhaps you have a NAS), via ftp or sftp protocols, manually or on a schedule, pick up files and carefully put them in some safe place ... Any ftp or sftp client will do, rsync is a good option.

With Rsync, it looks something like this:
rsync -avzPch [email protected]: / path / to / copy / path / to / local / storage

And this seems to be good, but what if you need to store several versions of database backups? Or, for some reason, it was necessary to make incremental copies, and it would still be nice to add encryption. You can sit a little and make a good bike script for your needs (for example, our rsync-backup), or take something from ready-made utilities.

Consider several utilities that are suitable for various use cases, in particular for the case described above.

Duplicity is a console-based backup utility with fairly broad capabilities.
There are several GUIs for Duplicity - Deja-dup for Gnome and test-drive for KDE. There is also a duply console wrapper.

Duplicity backs up encrypted volumes in tar format locally or to a remote host. The librsync library allows you to make incremental records of files, gzip is used for compression and gpg does encryption.
There is no configuration file. You will have to automate the reservation process yourself.

Examples of using:

Backing up a local folder to a remote host
duplicity / usr scp: //host.net/target_dir
Back up from a remote host to a local folder
duplicity sftp: // [email protected]/ var / www / home / backup / var / www
Recovery
duplicity restore / home / backup / var / www sftp: // [email protected]/ var / www

About rsnapshot is also said a lot on Habré, and. And also a good article. Rsnapshot is generally a good tool for creating incremental backups (snapshots). Written in perl, uses rsync to copy files. It is fast enough (faster than rdiff-backup) and saves disk space quite well due to hard links. Knows how to do pre and post-backup operations, cannot (without crutches) encrypt and backup to a remote host. Files are kept intact - easy to recover. The configuration is organized quite conveniently. Supports several temporary backup levels (daily, weekly, monthly). There is a fairly active community.

After you write the necessary lines in the config (what to back up and where), you can start the backup:
rsnapshot -v hourly
By default, several hourly and daily snapshots will be stored. Rsnapshot differs from other utilities in that it is automated out of the box (relevant for Debian / Ubuntu), i.e. the necessary lines will be written in kronor, and the configuration file contains the reservation of the directories "/ home", "/ etc", "/ usr / local"

Rdiff-backup is very similar to Rsnapshot, but it is written in Python and uses the librsync library to transfer data. He knows how to copy files to a remote host, which, by the way, we have used quite successfully, and we still use it somewhere else. You can also make a backup from a remote host, but first you need to install Rdiff-backup there. Stores information about file changes (deltas) in a compressed form, good for large files, saves disk space even compared to rsnapshot.
Metadata (rights, dates, owner) are stored in separate files.
The backup is launched from the console:
rdiff-backup remote.host::/home/web/sites/ / home / backup / rdiff /
A configuration file is not expected. You will have to automate yourself.

Obnam is an open-source client-server backup application, the program code is written in Python for transferring data using the SSH protocol. It can be operated in two ways:
- Push reservation from the local host to the remote server running the Obnam daemon.
- Pull daemon itself picks up files from remote hosts using the ssh protocol. In this case, the Obnam client is not needed.
Knows how to do snapshots, deduplication and encryption GnuPG. File backups are stored in volumes. Metadata is stored in separate files. Recovery is done through the console.

A small excerpt from the description on Opennet (http://www.opennet.ru/opennews/art.shtml?num=39323):
“Obnam's approach to backup has three goals: high storage efficiency, ease of use, and security. Storage efficiency is achieved by placing backups in a dedicated repository, which stores data in an optimal representation using deduplication. Backups of different clients and servers can be stored in one repository. In this case, the merging of duplicates is carried out for all stored backups, regardless of their type, creation time and backup source. A special version of the fsck utility is provided to check the integrity of the repository and restore it after a failure.

If the same operating system is used on a group of servers, then only one copy of duplicate files will be saved in the repository, which can significantly save disk space when organizing backups of a large number of typical systems, for example, virtual environments. The repository for storing backups can be located both on a local disk and on external servers (to create a server for storing backups, you do not need to install additional programs, access via SFTP is enough). It is possible to access the backups by mounting a virtual partition using a specially prepared FUSE module. "

All this is good, BUT scp is used for copying to a remote host with all the consequences.

Bacula is a cross-platform client / server software that allows you to manage backup, restore, and validation over the network for computers and operating systems of various types. Currently, Bacula can be used on almost any unix-like system (Linux (including zSeries), NetBSD, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, HP-UX, Tru64, IRIX, Mac OS X) and on Microsoft Windows.

Bacula can also run entirely on a single computer, or distributed across multiple computers, and can write backups to a variety of media types, including tapes, tape libraries (autochangers / libraries), and disks.

Bacula is a networked client / server backup, archive and recovery software. Offering extensive options for managing data stores, it makes it easy to find and recover lost or damaged files. Due to its modular structure, Bacula is scalable and can run on both small and large systems consisting of hundreds of computers located in a large network.

Bacula has GUI and web interfaces (Almir, Webmin) of varying degrees of complexity.

Some time ago I had to tinker with Almir to no avail to get it running on Debian Wheezy.

Bacula is a reliable, time-tested backup system that has proven itself in many large enterprises. Basically, Bacula differs from Obnam in the way it works. In the client-server case, Bacula will be 100% centralized. You also need a client application on the host that needs to be backed up. Three daemons SD, FD are running on the server at the same time. DIR - Storage Daemon, File Daemon and Director, respectively. It's not hard to guess who is responsible for what.

Bacula stores backup copies of files in volumes. Metadata is stored in a database (SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL) Recovery is performed using a console utility or a graphical shell. The recovery process through the console, frankly, is not the most convenient.

Numbers
I decided to test the backup speed of a small folder (626M) with multiple sites on WP.
For this, I was not even too lazy to deploy and configure all this software. :)
The test consists of two parts:
1. Members of Duplicity, Rsync, Rsnapshot, Rdiff-Backup. We copy from the remote server to the home computer, while since Rsnapshot does not know how to make a remote backup, it and Rdiff-backup (for comparison) will work on the home machine, i.e. will pull (pull) from the files from the server, and the rest, on the contrary, will push (push) to the home machine.
All utilities were launched with the minimum required options.

Rsync
rsync -az / home / web / sites / home.host:/home/backup/rsync
Full backup
Lead time:
real 4m23.179s user 0m31.963s sys 0m2.165s
Incremental
Lead time
real 0m4.963s user 0m0.437s sys 0m0.562s
Place occupied:
626M / home / backup / duplicity /

Duplicity
duplicity full / home / web / sites / rsync: //home.host//home/backup/duplicity
Full backup
Lead time:
real 5m52.179s user 0m46.963s sys 0m4.165s
Incremental
Lead time
real 0m49.883s user 0m5.637s sys 0m0.562s
Place occupied:
450M / home / backup / duplicity /

Rsnapshot
rsnapshot -v hourly
Full backup
Lead time:
real 4m23.192s user 0m32.892s sys 0m2.185s
Incremental
Lead time
real 0m5.266s user 0m0.423s sys 0m0.656s
Place occupied:
626M / home / tmp / backup / rsnap /

Rdiff-backup
rdiff-backup remote.host::/home/web/sites/ / home / backup / rdiff /
Full backup
Lead time:
real 7m26.315s user 0m14.341s sys 0m3.661s
Incremental
Lead time
real 0m25.344s user 0m5.441s sys 0m0.060s
Place occupied:
638M / home / backup / rsnap /

The results are fairly predictable. The fastest was Rsync, almost the same result was shown by Rsnapshot. Duplicity is slightly slower but takes up less disk space. Rdiff-backup is expectedly worse.

2. Now for the interesting part. Let's check how Obnam and Bacula work. Both solutions are quite versatile plus they have some similarities. Let's see who is faster.
Obnam
The first time I started copying from a remote host to my home host, I had to wait a long time:

Full backup
Backed up 23919 files, uploaded 489.7 MiB in 1h42m16s at 81.7 KiB / s average speed
Lead time:
real 102m16.469s user 1m23.161s sys 0m10.428s
obnam backup --repository sftp: //home.host/home/backup/obnam/ / home / web / sites /
Incremental
Backed up 23919 files, uploaded 0.0 B in 3m8s at 0.0 B / s average speed
Lead time
real 3m8.230s user 0m4.593s sys 0m0.389s
Place occupied:
544M / home / tmp / backup / rsnap /
Not a very good result, it seems to me, although understandable.
Let's try it a second time, but on a neighboring server over a gigabit network and add compression.

Full backup
Backed up 23919 files, uploaded 489.7 MiB in 2m15s at 3.6 MiB / s average speed
Lead time:
real 2m15.251s user 0m55.235s sys 0m6.299s
obnam backup --compress-with = deflate --repository sftp: //remote.host/home/backup/obnam/ / home / web / sites /
Incremental
Backed up 23919 files, uploaded 0.0 B in 8s at 0.0 B / s average speed
Lead time
real 0m7.823s user 0m4.053s sys 0m0.253s
Place occupied:
434M / home / tmp / backup / rsnap /
So faster and smaller backup size. I did not try encryption, maybe later, if there is time.

Bacula
For Bacula, I have prepared a full-fledged client-server version. Client and server on the same gigabit network.
I ran the task in the background and went to drink tea. When I returned, I found that everything was ready, and the following was in the log:
... Scheduled time: 23-Apr-2014 22:14:18 Start time: 23-Apr-2014 22:14:21 End time: 23-Apr-2014 22:14:34 Elapsed time: 13 secs Priority: 10 FD Files Written: 23,919 SD Files Written: 23,919 FD Bytes Written: 591,680,895 (591.6 MB) SD Bytes Written: 596,120,517 (596.1 MB) Rate: 45513.9 KB / s ...
I was even a little surprised. Everything was done in 13 seconds, the next launch was completed in one second.

Total
With rsnapshot you can easily solve the problem of backing up files and databases (with an additional script) of your VPS to your home computer / laptop / NAS. Also, rsnapshot will do a good job with a small server park of 10-25 hosts (more, of course, depends on your desire). Rdiff will be good for backing up large files (video content, databases, etc.)
Duplicity will help not only to keep your data intact, but to protect it in case of theft (unfortunately, you cannot protect yourself from yourself, be careful and careful, keep the keys in a safe and inaccessible place for anyone).
Bacula is an open source industry standard that will help keep the data of a large fleet of computers and servers of any enterprise safe.
Obnam is an interesting tool with a number of useful advantages, but I probably won't recommend it to anyone.
If, for some reason, you are not satisfied with any of these solutions, do not hesitate to reinvent your bicycles. This can be useful both for you personally and for many people.

The article provides an overview of the most popular data backup and recovery systems both around the world and in Russia. The article considers the products of the main manufacturers of data backup and recovery systems, provides data on their main functions and differences. Particular emphasis is placed on the products presented on the Russian market.

Introduction

Working with any data is always associated with the potential for loss. Data can be lost as a result of various factors: human error (both by users and network administrators), physical theft, as a result of the destructive actions of malware, damage to storage devices. If personal data was lost (for example, an archive with photographs), then the damage is subjective and will be expressed in negative emotions of the user. And, in case of loss of official information, damage can manifest itself in the economic sphere - in financial losses, loss of competitive advantages, disruptions or non-fulfillment of contracts, and even the ruin of an organization.

To protect against loss of information, systems of backup and recovery of data (Backup & Recovery) are used. A data backup and recovery system is a software or hardware-software complex for creating copies of data at a certain frequency for their subsequent recovery. In addition to protecting against data loss, backup systems also allow you to ensure the continuity of employees by quickly restoring the operating system (if there is an image of it) or restoring data on another computer.

How data backup and recovery systems work

Making a copy of data is a fairly straightforward process, but the real needs of users are often very varied and complex. For example, many users want to be able to make backups from an arbitrary location or store very large amounts of data. For enterprises, the problem of managing a large amount of data, their storage and fast recovery is urgent. To solve each class of problems, there are various backup and data recovery systems.

The main dividing lines between various backup and recovery systems are in their areas of use - for personal needs, in small companies and "home offices" (SMB / SOHO / ROBO) or in medium (Enterprise) and large companies (Large Enterprise). Depending on this, the price of backup and recovery systems differs, the types of storage used, types of platforms, the functions provided, etc. Let's take a look at some of these criteria.

One of the main differences for backup and recovery systems is the type of storage media. For storing backups, tape, optical disks (CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, etc.), "hard" disks (HDD), solid-state disks (SSD), network storages can be used. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, storing data on tapes seems anachronistic only at first glance. Modern tape devices are cheap enough to guarantee long-term data storage. But data recovery from such media can be very long. Therefore, they are more suitable for archiving data. "Hard" drives are fast enough for backup and recovery, but they are expensive and have a short lifespan.

An alternative to "hard" drives is the use of "cloud" storage, in which the type of storage system is hidden from users. Of course, they use some kind of disks as "hardware", but the problem of the safety of disks falls on the service provider. And what about the price? Providing additional security guarantees requires a lot of money for the maintenance of the "cloud" infrastructure (data duplication, "hot" disk replacement, RAID arrays can be supported). However, in this case, the efficiency of using disk space can be higher, because The cloud can be used by several clients and its efficiency will be higher than that of a data backup and recovery system installed directly in the company. As a result, the efficiency of a particular system is difficult to calculate a priori, therefore, in each specific situation, the choice of a storage system should be preceded by an economic calculation.

Another difference is the type of platforms used. The data backup and recovery system can be implemented in the form of software, hardware and software complex, or as a service (software-as-a-service). The software is cheaper and requires separate storage systems. Therefore, such systems are suitable for personal use and small companies. For large companies, such systems can be used in conjunction with special data storages. For medium and large enterprises, backup and data recovery systems made in the form of software and hardware complexes (PBBA, Purpose-Built Backup Appliance) are more suitable. These devices fall into two categories:

PBBA target systems (targetsystems). These complexes only act as a target device for backup. Such a solution requires the use of additional software to automate, manage and consolidate backup, which, in turn, must be placed on additional server hardware with a deployed operating system to integrate all of the listed components. These devices include EMC Data Domain, HP StoreOnce, and more.
PBBA integrated systems This completely complete solutions that do not require additional components for a full-fledged work. These include servers, disk arrays, and backup software. Such systems have greater integration between hardware and software and may include additional networking tools (eg load balancing). These solutions do not require additional investment in infrastructure, have lower deployment and integration costs, and are easier to maintain and administer. These devices include EMC Avamar, Symantec Appliance BE + NBU, etc.

A number of companies now provide backup as a service. In this case, the storage is most often located in the "cloud" and all management of such storage is carried out by the service provider, the user only uploads and restores data.

Data backup and recovery systems also differ in the functions they provide. Conditional can be divided into "basic" and "advanced" functions. Basic functions include scheduling, compression and encryption of backups. Additional functions are more varied:

Duplication allows simultaneous copying to multiple sources, which increases the reliability of data storage.
Deduplication allows analysis and compression of duplicated data. As a result, the load on data transmission channels and storage space is reduced.
Creation of system images. Periodic copying of not only data, but also system images allows you to quickly restore an employee's workplace even in the event of damage to the operating system or personal computer, which ensures the continuity of his work.
Load balancing. Allows you to optimize the load on multiple storages for the fastest execution of operations with backups.
Compatibility with software (operating systems and DBMS). Allows you to create "snapshots" of files and databases, which can change in the process of creating a backup, for their correct seamless transfer and recovery.
Various tools for remote administration. This is a fairly diverse set of functions to automate the administrator's work. These can include remote installation of agents on users' computers, verification of created archives, manual or automatic merging of backups, etc.
Working with virtual devices.
Working with "cloud" storages.
Data recovery algorithms. In case of data loss, to increase the speed of data recovery, various algorithms are used that allow you to recover only the data you need, eliminate duplication during recovery, etc.

The global market for backup and data recovery systems

The number of backup and data recovery systems in the world is quite limited. The Gartner Magic Square indicates that CommVault, EMC, IBM and Symantec are # 1 in the market.

Picture 1."Magic square"Gartnerfor backup systems and data recovery

In 2013, analyst firm IDC released a detailed report (Worldwide Quarterly Purpose Built Backup Appliance Tracker) on the Purpose Built Backup Appliance (PBBA) market. According to him, the revenue of companies in this segment for the second quarter of 2013 amounted to $ 720.2 million, which is 7.3% more than a year ago.

Table 1. Manufacturers' Revenue for Specialized Backup Devices (Millions of Dollars)

Manufacturer	2 quarter 2012		2 quarter 2013
Manufacturer	Volume of sales	Market share	Volume of sales	Market share

The table shows that more than half of the market is occupied by EMC (62.6%). The second position is occupied by Symantec (12.4%), the third place is occupied by IBM with a market share of 7.3%. The fourth and fifth places are occupied by HP (5.3%) and Quantum (2.5%), all other companies occupy less than 2% of the market and in total account for 10% of the market. Notable trends include a decrease in IBM's market share of 40.4% and an increase in Symantec's share of 71.3%.

The leaders in this category almost completely coincide with the leaders in the market of systems for backup and data recovery in general, which suggests that it is specialized devices for backup that largely form the revenue of companies. The only major difference is CommVault, which produces primarily software products and markets them as unified backup and archiving system.

Russian market of data backup and recovery systems

The Russian market is represented by the main global players in the market of backup and data recovery systems, which promote their solutions through regional partners. There are products from EMC, IBM, HP, Symantec, Dell, NetApp, CA Technologies on the market , which are mostly targeted at large companies. CommVault is represented on the Russian market in a smaller volume, mainly by CROC. Also popular are solutions from Russian manufacturers Acronis and Paragon Software Group. Their solutions are especially relevant in connection with the economy policy of many companies, which are beginning to pay special attention to the "price / quality" indicators. To protect only virtual systems, solutions from the Russian company Veeam Software are used, but we will consider them in the next specialized article.

There are a lot of companies of various levels in the Russian market, so we will consider the largest and / or most popular of them. At the same time, we will focus on corporate solutions, since it is they that mainly determine the market in this market segment.

EMC

EMC's core system is EMC Avamar. It is a comprehensive software and hardware solution for data backup and recovery that allows you to work with both real and virtual devices. The function of deduplication of segments of variable length is supported, which is carried out on the client device. Optimization of data transmission is carried out when working with different types of networks. Recovery is done in one step. EMC Avamar can be configured to work with specific types of software (such as Oracle databases) and virtual appliances.

The optional EMC Data Protection Adviso software is used to optimize data management. It automates monitoring and analysis of backups, sends alerts to administrators when various events occur, and lets you generate reports on backup activity.

Data backup and recovery systems are flexible enough and, if necessary, can be scaled by increasing disk space. EMC Avamar can also integrate with EMC Data Domain storage systems. These systems are represented by a large line of products from small devices (DD160, DD620), capable of storing several terabytes, to very large storages (DD990) for several petabytes.

IBM

In the backup arena, IBM is represented by IBM Tivoli Storage Manager. It is a software product that deals with backing up and managing storage devices. IBM Tivoli Storage Manager is compatible with a wide variety of storage systems. It supports local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs) and the emerging storage area networks (SANs).

Tivoli Storage Manager includes tools for remote administration from anywhere on the network or over the Internet. The administrator can automate various stages of the data backup and recovery system by creating retention policies. The set of policies configured by the administrator allows not only to carry out regular operations, but also to quickly respond to the occurrence of various unplanned situations. Through the use of a hierarchical storage system, a system managed by Tivoli Storage Manager can use various types of storage devices (for example, tapes and "hard" drives).

Tivoli Storage Manager allows you to optimize stored data by compressing, consolidating, and using "incremental" copying. For corporate software (databases, e-mail), additional clients are used to optimize work with a specific type of application.

Symantec

Symantec provides two backup and recovery products, Symantec Backup Exe and Symantec NetBackup, for medium to large networks. These applications include the entire set of functions necessary for backup (deduplication, automatic target replication, migration between computers, working with physical and virtual devices, working in a heterogeneous environment, etc.). These products can work with a variety of storage systems.

We should also mention additional technologies for working with virtual machines. Symantec V-Ray virtualization technology combines virtual and physical backups and gives users single access to all backups, including VMware, Hyper-V and physical devices, allowing you to quickly restore virtual machines, applications, databases, files, folders, and even individual elements of applications. Built-in bare metal recovery technology allows data recovery to non-original hardware and includes backup to virtual machine (B2V) and conversion to virtual machine (P2V) functionality, giving users the ability to recover failed systems in a VMware or Hyper-V environment ...

For the convenience of working with data backup and recovery systems, Symantec also launched the Symantec Backup Exec 3600 and Symantec NetBackup 5230 hardware and software devices. One of the advantages of using them is the minimum time to deploy them in the enterprise. It is claimed that it will take an administrator 20-30 minutes for the devices to start working and fully perform their functions.

CommVault

CommVault offers a software-based, modular data management system. Modules provide archiving, protection, backup and data management. A single management console is used to work with data.

Backup features in CommVault Simpana include deduplication, system imaging, backup automation, centralized backup management, reporting, self-service backup for users, hierarchical storage policies, load balancing, and more. CommVault Simpana provides deep virtual infrastructure integration for advanced data management for Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware vCenter and VMware vCloud Director platforms.

CommVault supports most of the existing operating systems and applications (in particular, Oracle, Microsoft, PostgreSQL and MySQL, Documentum, SAP databases) in order to create backups while running applications with minimal load on them.

HP

HP offers a wide range of different solutions on the market. HP Data Protector software is designed to provide automatic data backup and recovery, and centralized management of related policies and processes. It supports most of the well-known platforms and applications and allows you to perform the following functions:

data deduplication in accordance with HP StoreOnce Federated Deduplication technology both on clients (source based) and on a separate dedicated server (backup server) or on data storage systems (target based);
backup and recovery of virtual environments, including protection of both the entire virtual machines and individual data inside them;
Integration with the functionality of disk arrays to create hardware snapshots (snapshots) for backups with zero downtime Zero Downtime Backup and instant information recovery Instant Recovery (IR);
the ability to restore individual backup elements (for example, a separate file from a virtual machine backup).

The HPStoreOnce deduplication line of disk libraries is used to store backups. The solution is based on the HP Proliant Gen8 server platform, models have capacities ranging from 8TB to 2.2PB (up to 35PB with deduplication) and support backup speeds of up to 139TB / hour. It can simultaneously operate in VTL (Virtual Tape Library) mode, emulating tape drives, and act as a file storage with CIFS / NFS access.

Dell

Dell recently expanded its portfolio of backup and recovery solutions through the acquisitions of Quest Software and AppAssure. For large enterprises and companies, Dell offers a NetVault solution for organizing backups of the entire infrastructure, and for small and midsize businesses, the simpler Appasure solution. The vRanger application is used to back up virtual machines. The Russian developers of the Dell division also present specialized Dell Software solutions for granular AD and Exchange recovery, as well as a unique technology for automated Active Directory recovery in case of data loss.

For example, consider the Dell PowerVault DL and DR series devices (current models are DL4000 and Dell DR4100). The devices allow you to perform the following functions:

optimization and simplification of backup operations, which allows you to get rid of associated downtime;
Built-in end-to-end deduplication and block-level data compression, coupled with optimized backup sizes to save backup space and reduce the need for WAN replication;
point recovery with the ability to create snapshots every five minutes;
work with virtual machines.

Devices can run software from other manufacturers such as EMC or Symantec.

Quantum

Quantum supplies backup and storage systems. Available tape (SuperLoader; Scalar i40, i80, i500, i6000) and disk (DXi V1000, 4000, 6500, 6700, 8500) and backup devices for Quantum vmPRO 4000 virtual machines.

Devices vary in storage capacity and support most of the advanced features found in enterprise backup systems. To optimize copying, the original deduplication algorithms of the Quantum company are used. StorageCare Vision software is used for centralized management and monitoring.

NetApp

NetApp backup and recovery systems allow you to work with both tape and disk arrays. SnapProtect is a comprehensive disk and tape backup management software for NetApp FAS systems. It allows you to perform snapshots and data replication, which significantly reduces the time for working with backups and their size. SnapProtect also lets you manage backup creation and recovery from a single management console.

NetApp SnapVault is a software solution for fast disk-to-disk backup and block-level data protection. Reduces the time it takes to create backups by using block-level incremental backups. Provides fast data recovery through a large number of options and recovery points.

CA Technologies

CA Tehnologies offers CA ARCserve Backup software for data backup and recovery . It allows you to perform a fairly large range of functions:

data duplication to reduce the amount of used storage;
backup support when working with virtual machines running VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V ™ and Citrix® XenServer;
support for backups in the "cloud" for fast data transfer between physically remote objects;
use snapshot backup (ARCserve D2D) in conjunction with a traditional file backup solution (CA ARCserve Backup). It uses a shared backup directory to speed up and simplify the recovery process;
the ability to centrally manage the processes of copying and restoring data from a single console.

To implement specialized tasks, additional modules (CA ARCserve Central Reporting, CA ARCserve Replication, CA ARCserve High Availability) are used that extend the functionality of CA ARCserve Backup.

Acronis

Acronis provides a whole line of software for organizing backup and data recovery. Acronis True Image is intended for home use, Acronis Backup & Recovery Server for Windows is used for small businesses, and for Windows for large enterprises.

The most functional is the corporate product Acronis Backup & Recovery Advanced Server, which allows you to perform a large number of functions:

file-based and image-based backups. You can create an image of the entire disk with the operating system for subsequent recovery to the same or a similar computer;
duplication of backups in several storages (for example, local and network);
vault search and selective file recovery;
deduplication (a separate module) eliminates duplicate data copying. Moreover, the search for copies is carried out not only on the computer of a particular user, but on all network users;
the ability to restore workstations and servers on equipment other than the one from which the backup was made, or to a virtual machine (a separate module);
administration functions (remote installation, the ability to turn on computers before backing up, the ability to execute commands before and after copying; determining the load on the disk and network during the copying process, etc.);
centralized management of backups;
use of storage in the "cloud" (separate module).

The presence of such a set of functions enables Acronis products to be a real competitor to the products of world leaders in this field. The provided functionality allows Acronis products to qualify for all market segments.

Paragon

Another Russian company that produces data backup and recovery systems. Its portfolio includes a range of products for backing up and maintaining hard drives - Paragon Hard Disk Manager 12 Suite, Professional, Business, Premium editions (for personal users and SMB); Paragon Protect and Restore 3 (for large companies); Drive Backup 11 Workstation; Drive Backup 11 Server etc. In the spring of 2014, the release of Paragon Hard Disk Manager 14, which is already on sale in the West, is announced on the Russian market.

With the help of these products, you can organize a fully functional data backup and recovery process. System images are used to quickly migrate or recover from a system failure. Moreover, they can also be installed on computers whose hardware is different from the original computer. Various copying schemes have been implemented - incremental and differentiated, allowing to reduce the amount of copied data. It uses granular data recovery and a powerful set of filters to customize automatic data recovery. Work with both real and virtual devices is supported. However, there is no full deduplication. Centralized backup management is possible after installing the additional Paragon Remote Management application.

Most of Paragon's products are designed for personal users and small and medium-sized companies. However, the company's latest products, such as Hard Disk Manager 12 Premium, go beyond SMB and provide additional tools for working in large companies.

The above solutions are not completely limited to the market of backup and data recovery systems in Russia. There are less common products like Handy Backup Server Network (Novosoft company) or BakBone NetVault. However, their representation on the Russian market is small or cannot be accurately estimated, therefore they did not make it into the list of solutions we are considering.

Our review did not include free systems for backing up and restoring data, because, without data on sales volumes, it is difficult to assess their presence in the market. Clonezilla is one of the most popular free backup software on the Russian market. It allows you to create system images or copies of data on a local or remote computer. The corporate version of Clonezilla Server allows you to manage backups on the company's local network.

conclusions

Data backup and recovery systems are an essential element of the security of any workplace - both personal and corporate. The current level of this class of solutions makes the backup process fast and convenient for users. Attention is also paid not only to the speed of creating backups, but also to the speed of their restoration. When using specialized algorithms, the data recovery time is significantly reduced. The algorithms used for this can significantly reduce the data recovery time. The systems presented on the market are constantly evolving and include new technologies for working with data. So many systems offer the ability to store data in the cloud, use virtual machines, and allow you to work with new types of protocols and storage devices. This indicates the mutual interest of manufacturers and consumers of this class of solutions. It is worth noting that in the future, backup and recovery systems will increasingly integrate with solutions for storing backup copies and solutions for organizing sharing and remote work with data in the "cloud".

The market for backup and data recovery systems is mature enough. At the global level, a set of leaders in this area has long been formed, who year after year strive to maintain a high level of their decisions. These are EMC, CommVault, Symantec, IBM, HP, Quantum, NetApp, CA Technologies. Products of all these leaders are presented on the Russian market. The specificity of the market is the presence of Russian players - Acronis and Paragon, whose products occupy their own niches and are in demand on the market.

In our future publications, we plan to look at the market for cloud backup and data recovery systems.

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1. Statement of the problem

2. Introduction

3. Backup technologies

3.1 Overview of backup technologies

3.2.2 Disk drives

3.2.3 Network technologies

3.3. Storage of backups

4.1 GFI Backup Overview

4.1.1 General characteristics

4.1.2 Practical use

4.2.1 General characteristics

4.3 Acronis True Image overview

4.3.1 General characteristics

5. Application and comparison of the considered software products

6. Conclusion

7. List of used literature

1. Statement of the problem

Task 3.5 "Tasks and tools for backing up and storing data." Learn the basic tasks and methods of backing up and storing data. Review and compare software from well-known manufacturers (Microsoft, Veritas, Symantec, etc.). Write a description of the practical application of the available tool.

2. Introduction

Backing up is the process of creating a coherent (consistent) copy of data. Backing up is becoming more and more important with the significant increase in the volume of data in the computer industry. The backup subsystem is a very important part of any information system. With the right organization, it is capable of solving two problems at once. First, reliably protect the entire range of important data from loss. Secondly, to organize a quick migration from one PC to another, if necessary, that is, to actually ensure the uninterrupted work of office employees. Only in this case can we talk about the effective work of backup. Mastering backup tactics is an essential attribute of the professionalism of the user and the system administrator. It follows from the decision by the user for himself, by what methods and at what level the information will be stored (the required software and hardware depends on this), the amount of information required to save (the selected information carriers depend on this), the size and structure of the local network (from this the actual mechanism of systematic copying depends).

To perform the backup procedure, special software and hardware subsystems, called backup subsystems, are usually created. They are just intended both for carrying out regular automatic copying of system and user data, and for prompt data recovery. Keeping information separate from system files is already a must. In the case of an ordinary user, this means at least dividing the HDD into three logical drives: for the system, for applications, for data. In the case of a corporate employee with a large amount of confidential information - placing information on other, non-system physical disks. This measure facilitates the very operation of data archiving. The principle of separate storage of information applies to both file archives and disk images. They must also be stored on at least non-system partitions of one HDD. In the case of a corporate user, the principle of separate storage of information should be implemented even more stringently: at least one of the copies should be stored in a separate place so as not to lose corporate information in case of unforeseen circumstances.

3.Backup technologies

3 .. Overview of backup technologies

Depending on the importance of the information stored on the computer and on the frequency of its use, several types of data backup are performed:

Full backup.

Differential backup

Incremental backup

3.1.1 Full backup

It is the main and fundamental method of creating backups, in which the selected data array is copied in its entirety. It is the most complete and reliable backup method, although it is also the most expensive one. If it is necessary to save several copies of data, the total stored volume will increase in proportion to their number. To prevent a large amount of used resources, compression algorithms are used, as well as a combination of this method with other types of backup: incremental or differential. And, of course, a full backup is indispensable when you need to prepare a backup for a quick system recovery from scratch.

Advantages of the method:

Easy File Search - Since all the data on the device is backed up, you don't need to browse multiple media to find the file you want.

The current backup of the entire system is always located on the same media or set of media - If you need to restore the entire system, all the information you need can be found in the last full backup.

Disadvantages of the method:

Redundant data protection - since most of the system files are rarely changed, each subsequent full backup is a copy of the data saved during the first full backup. A full backup requires a lot of media.

Full backups take longer - Full backups can take a long time to create, especially if network devices are selected for storage.

3.1.2 Differential backup

It differs from the incremental one in that the data is copied from the last moment of the Full backup. In this case, the data are placed in the archive "on a cumulative total". In systems of the Windows family, this effect is achieved by the fact that the archive bit is not cleared during a differential copy, so the changed data is transferred to the archive copy until the full copy zeroes the archive bits. Due to the fact that each new copy created in this way contains data from the previous one, it is more convenient for complete data recovery at the time of the disaster. To do this, only two copies are needed: the full one and the last of the differential ones, so you can bring the data back to life much faster than rolling all the increments step by step. In addition, this type of copying is free from the above-mentioned features of the incremental, when, after a full recovery, old files are revived from the ashes. Less confusion arises. But differential copying is significantly inferior to incremental copying in saving the required space. Since each new copy contains data from the previous ones, the total amount of backed up data can be comparable to a full copy. And, of course, when planning the schedule (and calculating whether the backup process will fit into a temporary "window"), you need to take into account the time it takes to create the last, largest, differential copy.

Advantages of the method:

Find files easily - To restore a system protected by a differential backup strategy, two backups are required — the last full backup and the last differential backup. Recovery times are significantly shorter than backup strategies that require the most recent full backup and all incremental backups since the last full backup.

Faster backup and recovery times - Differential backups take less time than full backups. Disaster recovery is faster because only the latest full backup and differential backup are needed to fully recover a device.

Disadvantage of the method:

Redundant data protection - All files modified since the last incremental backup are retained. Thus, redundant backups are created.

3.1.3 Incremental backups

Unlike a full backup, in this case, not all data (files, sectors, etc.) are copied, but only those that have changed since the last backup. Various methods can be used to find out when the copy was made, for example, in systems running Windows operating systems, the corresponding file attribute (archive bit) is used, which is set when the file has been modified and is reset by the backup program. On other systems, the date the file was modified may be used. It is clear that a scheme using this type of backup will be incomplete if you do not carry out a full backup from time to time. With a full system recovery, you need to restore from the last copy created by Full backup, and then restore the data from the incremental backups one by one in the order they were created. This type is used in order to reduce the amount of space consumed on storage devices in the case of creating archival copies (for example, to reduce the number of used tape media). It will also allow minimizing the execution time of backup jobs, which can be extremely important in conditions when the machine is running constantly, or pumping large amounts of information. Incremental backup has one caveat: step-by-step recovery also returns the necessary deleted files during the recovery period. For example: let's say a full copy is performed on weekends, and incremental on weekdays. A user created a file on Monday, changed it on Tuesday, renamed it on Wednesday, and deleted it on Thursday. So, with sequential step-by-step data recovery over a weekly period, we will receive two files: with the old name on Tuesday before renaming, and with a new name created on Wednesday. This happened because different versions of the same file were stored in different incremental copies, and eventually all variants will be restored. Therefore, when restoring data from an archive "as is" in a sequential manner, it makes sense to reserve more disk space so that the deleted files can also fit.

Advantages of the method:

Efficient media utilization - Since only files that have changed since the last full or incremental backup are saved, backups take up less space.

Faster backup and recovery - Incremental backups take less time than full and differential backups.

Disadvantage of the method:

Backup data is stored on multiple media - Since backups are located on multiple media, recovering a device from a disaster may take longer. In addition, media must be processed in the correct order to effectively restore the system to operability.

3.2 Backup and data storage technologies

In the process of backing up data, the problem of choosing a storage technology for backups and data appears. Currently, the following types of media are especially popular:

Magnetic tape drives.

Disk drives.

Network technologies.

3.2.1 Tape drives

Not only in large corporations, but also in small businesses, they are well aware of the need for backup and recovery of information. In enterprise systems and large departmental networks, small companies and individuals alike, streaming drives or streamers are equally successful. Their design is based on an inertial tape drive mechanism. Magnetic tape drives have been used together with computers since the beginning of the 50s - it was then that they began to replace "paper" information carriers - punched tapes and punched cards. An important factor that provides such a long-term interest in tape drives is the low cost of storing information. The main problem with tape drives today is that many tape drives use incompatible tape formats. This often complicates not only the choice of a specific drive, but also the exchange of data during its operation. A lot of efforts have been made to solve this problem, but in general, it can be stated that fundamental changes have not yet occurred (although there is some progress in this direction) The most widely used technologies today are Travan, DLT (Digital Linear Type), DAT-DDS ( Digital Audio Tape-Digital Data Storage), LTO (Linear Tape Open), Mammoth and AIT (Advanced Intelligent Tape). To make an informed choice of a backup system, you need to clearly understand the advantages and disadvantages of different devices, which are largely determined by the capacity of the system, its performance, reliability and price. The main drivers for improved performance for mid-range and high-end tape devices are the widespread use of the Internet and the proliferation of corporate intranets, an increase in the number of servers needed to support the growth of these networks, and increased requirements for information storage and recovery in the event of a disaster. The demand for backup and storage systems is especially fueled by the increasing use of applications such as multimedia, video-on-demand, audio content, image processing, etc. Two methods of recording to magnetic tape are used: oblique and linear serpentine. In oblique recording systems, several read / write heads are placed on a rotating drum mounted at an angle to the vertical axis (a similar scheme is used in consumer video equipment). The movement of the tape during writing / reading is possible only in one direction. In linear serpentine recording systems, the read / write head is stationary as the tape moves. The data on the tape is recorded in the form of many parallel tracks (serpentine). The head is placed on a special stand; when it reaches the end of the tape, it moves to another track. The movement of the tape during writing / reading goes in both directions. In fact, several such heads are usually installed so that they serve several tracks at once (they form several write / read channels).

Pros of storing data on tape:

Low cost.

Low power consumption of the drive.

Large amounts of data.

An easy way to increase the amount of stored data without significant investment.

Cons of storing data on tape:

Low speed of data access.

Complex process of processing parallel data requests.

3.2.2 Disk drives

There are two of the most common types of disk drives: hard disk drives and optical drives.

Hard Disk Drives (HDD) are the main devices for online storage of information. Modern single drives are characterized by volumes from hundreds of megabytes to several gigabytes with an access time of 5-15 ms and a data transfer rate of 1-10 MB / s. A distinction is made between internal and external drives in relation to the server case. Internal drives are significantly cheaper, but their maximum number is limited by the number of available chassis bays, capacity and the number of corresponding connectors on the server power supply. Installing and replacing ordinary internal drives requires shutting down the server, which in some cases is unacceptable. Hot Swap internal drives are conventional hard drives installed in special cassettes with connectors. Cassettes are usually inserted into special bays on the side of the front panel of the case, the design allows you to remove and insert drives when the server is powered on. For standard cases, there are inexpensive devices (Mobile Rack) that provide quick removal of standard hard drives. External drives have their own enclosures and power supplies, their maximum number is determined by the capabilities of the interface. Maintenance of external drives can be performed while the server is running, although it may require stopping access to some of the server's disks.

For large volumes of stored data, external storage blocks are used - disk arrays and racks, which are complex devices with their own intelligent controllers that provide, in addition to normal operation modes, diagnostics and testing of their drives. More sophisticated and reliable storage devices are RAID arrays (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks). For the user, RAID is a single (usually SCSI) disk that performs simultaneous distributed redundant writes (reads) of data to multiple physical drives (typically 4-5) according to implementation level rules (0-10). For example, RAID Level 5 allows read errors to be corrected and any disk replaced without interrupting data access.

CD-ROM drives extend the capabilities of your NetWare storage system. Existing drives provide read speeds from 150 KB / s to 300/600/900/1500 KB / s for 2-, 4-, 6- and 10-speed models with access times of 200-500 ms. NetWare allows you to mount your CD as a readable network volume. The volume can be up to 682 MB (780 MB for Mode 2). CD-ROM drives are available with various interfaces, both specific (Sony, Panasonic, Mitsumi) and general use: IDE and SCSI. The NetWare server only supports SCSI CD-ROMs, new drivers exist for IDE too; devices with specific interfaces can only be used in DOS for system installation. From a performance standpoint, SCSI CD-ROMs are preferable, but they are significantly more expensive than comparable IDE devices. On a server with SCSI discs, IDE CD-ROMs may not be possible due to adapter conflicts.

The advantages of such drives are:

Fast access to data.

Possibility of parallel access to data without significant speed loss.

Disadvantages of disk drives:

Higher cost than tapes.

Higher power consumption.

More expensive storage expansion.

Impossibility of ensuring high security of copies.

3.2.3 Network technologies

Networked storage is built on three fundamental components: switching, storage, and files. All storage products can be represented as a combination of the functions of these components. This can be confusing at first: Because storage products have been developed in very different directions, features often overlap.

There are many client / server applications and various kinds of distributed applications running on a network, but storage is a unique and specialized type of application that can function in multiple network environments. Since storage processes are tightly integrated with networks, it is appropriate to recall that networked storages are system applications. The services provided by networked storage applications can be consumed by sophisticated enterprise programs and custom applications. As with many technologies, some types of systems are better suited to the demands of complex high-level applications.

The term "switching" applies to all software, hardware and services that transport and manage storage on a NAS. This includes elements as diverse as cabling, network I / O controllers, switches, hubs, address picking hardware, communications control, transport protocols, security, and resource reserves. SCSI and ATA data bus technologies are still widely used in NAS and are likely to be in use for a long time to come. In fact, SCSI and ATA products are much more common in NAS technology today. There are two important differences between SANs and traditional LANs. SANs automatically synchronize data between individual systems and storage. Networked storage requires highly accurate components to provide a reliable and predictable environment. Despite distance limitations, parallel SCSI is an extremely reliable and predictable technology. If new switching technologies such as Fiber Channel, Ethernet and InfiniBand replace SCSI, they will need to demonstrate similar or better levels of reliability and predictability. There is also a point of view that considers switching as a storage channel. The term "channel" itself, which originates in the environment of large computers, implies high reliability and performance.

Storage mainly concerns address space block operations, including the creation of a virtual environment where the addresses of a logical storage unit are mapped from one address space to another. Generally speaking, the storage function has remained almost unchanged in NAS, apart from two notable differences. The first is the ability to find device virtualization technologies, such as device management within networked storage equipment. This kind of function is sometimes referred to as storage domain controller or LUN virtualization. The second major storage difference is scalability. Storage products such as storage subsystems have significantly more controllers / interfaces than previous generations of bus technology, as well as much more storage capacity.

The file organizing feature presents an abstract object to the end user and applications, and organizes the markup of data on real or virtual storage devices. Most of the functionality of files in network attached storage is provided by file systems and databases; they are complemented by storage management applications such as backup operations, which are also file applications. Networked storage has changed little about file functionality to date, with the exception of the development of NAS file systems, in particular Network Appliance's WAFL file system. In addition to the mentioned storage technologies NAS and SAN, focused on large and global networks, in small local area networks the dominant position is occupied by the DAS technology, in accordance with which the storage is located inside the server, which provides the storage volume and the necessary computing power.

The simplest example of a DAS is a hard disk drive inside a personal computer or a tape drive connected to a single server. I / O requests (also called commands or communication protocols) directly address these devices. However, such systems do not scale well, and companies are forced to purchase additional servers to expand storage capacity. This architecture is very expensive and can only be used to create small data warehouses.

3.3 Storage of backups

When backups are made, these copies should be kept. However, it is not at all so obvious what exactly should be stored and where. To correctly determine where the backups are stored, you must first consider the circumstances under which the backups will be used. There are three main situations:

Recovery of individual files at the request of users.

Global emergency recovery.

Archive storage will most likely never be required.

Unfortunately, there are incompatible contradictions between the first and second situations. When a user accidentally deletes a file, he wants to check it back immediately. Therefore, the backup media should be no further than a few meters from the computer on which the data is to be restored. In case of emergencies, you will need to perform a full recovery of one or more computers in your datacenter, and if the failure is physical, it will destroy not only computers, but all backups stored nearby. The issue of archive storage is less controversial - the likelihood that an administrator will use it is rather small, so if the backup media is stored far from the datacenter, this should not be a problem. Various approaches can be taken to address these different challenges, depending on the needs of the organization. The first possible approach is to keep copies for a few days in-house, and then move those copies to a more secure offsite location when new daily copies are created. Another approach is to support two sets of media:

A set of media in a datacenter used exclusively for on-demand individual data recovery

A set of media for remote storage and recovery in case of emergencies

Of course, having two sets implies having to make all backups twice or copy them. This can be done, but duplicate backups can be time consuming and copying backups may require multiple backup devices (and possibly allocating a separate computer for copying. The challenge for a sysadmin is striking a balance between meeting user needs and availability of backups in case of the worst situations.

3.4 Recovering data from backups

In most cases, backups are performed daily, and restores are generally less frequent. However, recovery is inevitable, there will certainly be a need for it, so it is better to prepare for it. It is important to analyze here two important situations that arise when restoring data from backups:

Data recovery on a clean computer.

Checking the relevance of backups.

3.4.1 Recovering data on a clean computer

Clean PC data recovery is the process of restoring a complete copy of a system to a computer that has absolutely no data on it - no operating system, no applications, nothing. In general, there are two main approaches to bare-metal recovery:

Reinstallation followed by recovery, here installs the base operating system in the same way as on a brand new computer. When the operating system is installed and configured correctly, the remaining drives can be connected and formatted, and all copies from the backup media can be restored.

A system recovery disc is some kind of bootable media (usually CD-ROM) that contains a minimal system environment and allows you to perform the most basic administrative tasks. The recovery environment contains the necessary utilities for partitioning and formatting disks, the device drivers needed to access the backup device, and the programs needed to recover data from the backup media.

3.4.2 Checking the relevance of backups

All types of copies should be checked periodically to ensure they are readable and up to date. Indeed, sometimes copies, for one reason or another, may not be readable, most often this is detected only when data is lost, when a backup is required. The reasons for this can be very different, for example: tape drive head misalignment, incorrectly configured backup software, and operator error. But whatever the reason, without conducting periodic checks, the administrator cannot be sure that there really are backups from which data can be restored sometime later.

4. Varieties of backup programs

Today there are many software products for providing data backup technology. At the corporate level, products are used such as:

Acronis True Image Home.

Paragon Drive Backup Server Edition.

Symantec Backup Exec.

Windows System Recovery.

For network backup:

Paragon Drive Backup Enterprise Server Edition.

Acronis Backup & Recovery.

A further review of backup technologies will be based on the description of the practical use of the following three software products:

Paragon Drive backup Workstation.

Acronis True Image Home.

4.1 GFI backup software overview

4.1.1 General characteristics.

System requirements:

Microsoft Windows 7 (x86 or x64), Server 2008

(x86 or x64), Vista (x86 or x64), Server 2003 Standard / Enterprise

(x86 or x64), XP (x86 or x64)

Processor - Intel Pentium 4 or similar

Memory - 512 MB

Physical memory - 100 MB for installation

Specifications:

1.Safe and reliable data backup and recovery.

2. Synchronization of data.

3. Backup to any storage device; backup via FTP.

GFI Backup allows you to back up to internal and external hard drives, local network drives, network storage devices, storage media

CD / DVD / Bluray, portable devices (USB devices, memory sticks, flash memory, floppy disks, etc.), as well as to remote locations via FTP with an auto-renewal system.

6. Using standard Zip archives.

Unlike other backup software, GFI Backup does not use proprietary archive formats, but uses the standard Zip format. This allows

4.1.2 Practical use of the program

In order to assess the capabilities of the program, we need:

1. Personal computer with an installed operating system and a set of necessary user software.

2. Boot disk Windows PE.

3. The installer of the program itself, which can be downloaded from the official website of the program, or from other resources on the Internet.

We use the Windows PE boot disk to start the working environment, because the developer did not include support for a boot disk with this product. GFI Backup can also run under the OS installed on the computer, but the functionality will be reduced to managing the client machines.

We will use GFI Backup Home Edition as an example of such a program for backing up data. The program is supplied free of charge and is intended exclusively for non-commercial purposes, as indicated by the Home Edition prefix. It follows from this that the functions declared by the developer are not presented in full. You can download it from the manufacturer's website http://gfi.ru/. The installation package is only 10 megabytes in size. The installation process is extremely simple - run the installer, agree to the license agreement, choose a location to install the program (in 99% of cases, the default location will be the best option) and that's it.

The main window of the program is not overloaded with unnecessary functions. All the main features of the program are available immediately upon download, and in the form of "wizards".

Fig. 1 (Main window of the program)

To create an image, select - "Backup", with which you create a backup copy of the data. When pressed, a wizard starts, allowing you to select the objects to copy and the location to save. The combination of source and destination is called a “task”.

The General tab contains the name of the task, as well as the name of the archived copy.

Figure 2 (Backup Settings Wizard).

In the Source tab, you need to select the location of the data that will be archived, for example, a copy of the entire C: \ drive.

Also, the program can archive registry keys, data of mail clients and user settings. Archiving emails is a particularly useful feature. Mail clients are supported: Outlook, Windows Mail and Thunderbird.

Fig 3. (Selecting mail clients).

It is possible to save user settings of various programs - from browser tabs to Total Commander settings.

Fig 4. (Window for selecting settings of user programs)

After selecting the data for archiving in the lower left corner of the window, you can immediately see the number and volume of items that will be copied.

On the Destination tab, the location for storing the archive is selected, which will be the result of archiving. It can be located on:

Local disk (it is logical that this should not be the same disk from which the data copy is taken).

Remote Windows network folder.

Removable media such as a flash drive or memory card

CD / DVD / Blu-ray disc (s).

FTP server.

We choose to save on a local disk.

The Options tab contains important options. The first is whether to compress data or not. The compressed archive will take up less space, but it will also take longer to create. It is also possible to protect the archive copy with a password - either it is a Zip password (in fact, not serious protection), or AES encryption (guessing a password by a person who is not supposed to see the contents of the archive will become a much more difficult task).

The program is made in such a way that full copying is carried out only with compression and encryption, differential copying with encryption, but without compression; and an incremental copy without encryption and without compression. This is done to save system and user resources.

Fig 5. (Copy options)

Scheduler tab. Here you can select the frequency of copying. Among the options there is “run once”, “start manually”, at Windows startup / shutdown, by days of the week, once every N days and once every N hours. The frequency should be chosen based on the importance of the data and its size (for example, copying 20 gigabytes of data every hour will only bring the drive back from overloading).

Events tab. Here you can specify how to indicate what is happening. For example, the program can send e-mail to a specified address when errors occur or the archiving process is completed.

After viewing all the tabs and setting the desired options, the created task can be viewed by clicking on the “My Tasks” button in the main program window. If the task was configured for manual launch, it can be launched in the same window by clicking the “Start” button. The archiving process will be displayed at the bottom of the window, as well as in the line with the task description.

Fig 6. (Task window)

To evaluate the performance of the program, 3 backups were made:

Full (MyBackup1 with compression).

Differentiated (MyBackup2, compressed and uncompressed).

Incremental (MyBackup3 with and without compression).

Fig 7. (Browse local drive P files).

Time and speed of backups:

1. Full copy with compression - 34 min .; copying speed - 4.01 Mb / s.

2. Differentiated copy without compression - 14 min .; copying speed - 12 Mb / s.

3. Differentiated copy with compression - 18 min .; copying speed - 8 Mb / s.

4. Incremental copy without compression - 8 min .; copying speed - 4.9 Mb / s.

5. Incremental copy with compression - 12 min .; copying speed - 6 Mb / s.

The recovery process is very simple, just select “Restore” in the main program window and specify which of the archives you want to restore. When restoring files, the partition is formatted automatically and the size of the resulting volume will be the same as during copying.

As a result of experiments, this product did not perform well. After four attempts to restore each of the archives, we get the following picture:

The full copy archive was recovered without errors in 4 cases.

Differentiated copy without compression out of four cases, only two were fully working, in other cases some files were damaged.

Differentiated copy with compression was successfully restored in only one of four cases.

Both incremental copies were unable to restore the OS bootloader.

Based on this and taking into account the limited functionality of the free version of the program, we can conclude that this program is suitable only for backing up files and folders with user data, but not for copying the entire volume as a whole.

4.2 Paragon Drive backup Workstation overview

4.2.1 General characteristics

The purpose of Paragon Drive Backup is to backup and restore operating systems and user data through the image mechanism. Along with this, Paragon Drive Backup has a number of other functions: copying and restoring individual files, basic capabilities for managing and editing partitions, functions for restoring the operating system bootloader, the ability to migrate from one computer to another (p2p) and to a virtual environment (p2v).

The Paragon Drive Backup family includes two products: Drive Backup Workstation and Drive Backup Server. The Drive Backup Server option differs in that it supports server operating systems and also includes virtual migration (p2v) functionality. The rest of the functions of the programs are the same.

Paragon Drive Backup works on all Windows operating systems from XP to Windows 8 and Server 2008 R2.

The following file systems are supported:

NTFS (v1.2, v3.0, v3.1)

Also Paragon Drive Backup can work without installation in OS. It is enough to unpack the program image onto a flash card or other medium and boot from it. There are two types of Paragon Drive Backup images:

1. Standard Linux-based (created via the Create Disk Wizard).

2. Advanced based on Windows PE (downloaded from the manufacturer's website).

Supported media:

Supports MBR and GPT hard drives (including 2.2 TB or more).

Hard drives with IDE, SCSI and SATA interfaces.

Solid state drives (SSD).

AFD (Advanced Format Drive) discs.

Disks with a sector size other than 512 bytes.

CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD + R, DVD-RW, DVD + RW, double layer DVD-R, DVD + R, and Blu-ray discs.

Hard drives FireWire (IEEE1394), USB 1.0, USB 2.0, USB 3.0.

PC card storage devices (MBR and GPT flash memory, etc.). System requirements:

OS:

Windows 2000 (32 bit version)

Windows XP (version 32 and 64 bit)

Windows Vista (version 32 and 64 bit)

Windows 7/8 (version 32 and 64 bit)

Intel Pentium processor or equivalent with a frequency of at least 300 MHz

Hard drive with 250 MB of available disk space

4.2.2 Practical use

Installed in the operating system, Paragon Drive Backup allows you to create an image without stopping the operating system. This is achieved using the "Paragon Hot Backup" technology, as well as the Windows shadow backup technology - "Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service". The latest technology has been available since Windows Vista.

Fig 8. (Start window of the program)

The program allows you to create both full and differentiated or incremental backups. If you create a differential backup, only the changes since the last backup are recorded in the archive. In case of incremental - changes since the last full backup. The archive can be sector-by-sector (the complete disk structure is copied, regardless of the file system), or file.

Differential copying is referred to as applicable only to sector-by-sector archives, and incremental, which is called "file addition" in the program, is applicable only to file archives. There are also complex archives that combine sector-by-sector and file backups.

Let's create a full backup of the C drive, including the MBR. As a result, a complex archive will be created, in the inside of which the MBR will be recorded as a sector-by-sector archive, and everything else as a file archive.

Fig 9. (Image files)

Figure 9 shows that the folder contains files of two extensions: * .PBF and * .PFM.

The main files are files with the * .PBF (paragon backup file) extension. Inside these files are the contents of the files and sections. Files with the * .PFM extension are additional archive description files that are used by the Image Explorer utility to quickly display information about an archive. When recovering data, files with the * .PFM extension are not required.

Archive.pbf is the main file for linking img_0 ... and img_1 ....

img_0 - contains archive of files, and img_1 a copy of MBR.

When restoring in the dialog box, we indicate each of these files, which is not always convenient.

Also, backups can be performed on a schedule - this is called a round robin backup. The result of such copying is two images: The first image is complete, and the second is differentiated. This type of archiving is available only for entire disks.

Fig 10. (Configuring scheduled copying)

As a result of creating a disk image and restoring from it, it is clearly seen that the program does not perform both operations at once. First, the program, by analyzing the attributes of the files, creates a list of changes and only then, after the parameters necessary for the operation have been set, by pressing the "Apply" button, it starts copying. However, this mode can be disabled in the settings and the image creation process will take less time.

Fig 11. (The window for starting a backup).

The creation of an archive can be performed not only from under the installed Windows. You can also create a bootable disk, bootable Flash - media or create a so-called archive capsule.

The Archive Capsule is a special boot partition on your hard drive that contains the stand-alone version of Paragon Drive Backup and storage space for backups. A capsule can be created as a primary partition or a logical partition within an extended hard disk partition and can be located anywhere on the hard disk: at the end, at the beginning, or between other partitions. Next, let's try to create a backup capsule.

Fig 12. (Window of settings of the archive capsule)

If there is no free space on a hard disk partition, the archive capsule is created at the expense of free space on other hard disk partitions. Create a capsule with the image on the free space of the hard drive D: \. After creating the capsule, you need to restart the computer and press the F1 key, at the time of choosing the OS to boot, boot into the capsule. The process of restoring an image from a capsule is the same as in a program from under Windows. This method is widely used by firms - manufacturers of laptops and personal computers.

Now let's try to create a bootable image of the program (rescue disk). Bootable media can be created on CD, or on Flash drive. When creating a disc, you can immediately add the necessary files to it.

Figure 13. (Rescue Disk Creation Wizard).

Now you need to restart your computer and select the option to boot from external media. When booting from a disk, all the necessary operations for backing up and restoring images are available, as well as the function of managing and editing hard disk partitions becomes possible.

Fig 14. (Emergency boot disk menu).

Fig. 15. (The main window of the program.)

All operations are accessible and easy to perform. However, the process of creating an image takes much less time than creating it from under the established OS.

Archiving in a bootable disk is performed to local media, and the image can also be saved to a network folder. However, working with network resources is extremely inconvenient. You must manually set the paths to network resources in order to mount them to a local folder. There is a Browse Network button, but it doesn't work.

Fig 16. (Connecting network attached storages)

The function of direct editing of sectors on the hard disk is also available.

Figure 17. (Hard disk partition sector editor)

Paragon Drive Backup boot disk allows you to restore Windows boot without restoring from a backup image, that is, there are functions for automatic search for installed copies of Windows, manual editing of boot.ini ", etc. However, out of three attempts to repair a corrupted boot.ini file, none have been successful.

Fig 18. (Windows Boot Repair Wizard)

The developer has included the function of deploying the system on new hardware (p2p) into the image. In other words, the system image with all installed software can be unpacked to other personal computers, which is important for system administrators. Preparing to boot the system on new hardware is performed on a deployed image. Those. first you need to deploy the image on a new PC, and then carry out the p2p procedure. By and large, the p2p procedure is reduced to installing the necessary drivers for new equipment. First, you need to select which copy of the OS on the hard disk we will restore, and then specify the drivers. Drivers can be loaded automatically (from a specified folder) exactly for the hardware that is used on the new PC.

Fig. 19. (Menu for selecting actions when loading drivers)

Based on the experiments done, we can conclude that this product performs the declared functions quite well, except for the network copying function and the system boot recovery function without affecting the image. For each type of backup, four copy and restore attempts were made. All attempts were crowned with success.

Product advantages:

P2P technology is included in the price and comes with the product.

A ready-to-use bootable disk based on Windows PE.

Flexible pricing and licensing policy.

Disadvantages of the product:

Storing the archive in several files.

OS recovery tools do not work without the need to restore from an image.

Working with network resources is extremely poorly implemented.

Sophisticated shell interface.

4.3 Acronis True Image Home overview

4.3.1 General characteristics

Acronis True Image Home is designed to create a backup image of the system, local disk, and files. It can automatically, at a specified time, archive the necessary data (system, disk, folder, file). In this case, archiving can be performed in different ways:

Create a new image every time;

Update an existing one by creating a small image that includes only the changes that have occurred to the data after the previous image was created.

In addition to creating images, Acronis can recover data that has been backed up to an image. When creating a backup image of the system, all files from the specified disk are saved to the archive, that is, all programs, all registry paths, all system settings made before the disk was archived. One of the most common ways of using the program in practice is to restore the system from a previously created image by booting from under DOS from a special Acronis boot disk. In this case, the system is restored with all the settings, drivers and software that were in the system at the time of the archive creation in about 25 - 40 minutes.

Supported operating systems:

Windows® Vista / 7 32 & 64 bit

Windows® XP SP 2, SP 3

Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition SP2

Acronis True Image Home allows you to create bootable CDs for complete recovery of information on hard drives / partitions created by Windows XP / Vista / 7.

Minimum system requirements:

Pentium processor or higher;

RAM 256 MB;

Optical disc drive with CD-R / RW or DVD + R / RW writing capability to create bootable discs.

Supported hardware:

Internal and external hard drives;

Network drives and storage devices;

CD-R (W), DVD + R, DVD + RW, DVD-RAM, BD-R (Blu-ray);

ZIP® Jazz® and other removable media;

P-ATA (IDE), S-ATA, SCSI drives, removable media with IEEE1394 (Firewire) and USB 1.0 / 2.0 interfaces, flash memory cards;

Supported file systems:

FAT16 / 32, NTFS, Linux Ext2, Ext3, ReiserFS, Linux SWAP;

Sector-by-sector copying for unknown or corrupted file systems

4.3.2 Practical use

After installing the program and restarting the system, Acronis TrueImage is ready to work.

The right window contains icons, double-clicking on which launches basic operations. When you select an icon in the right part of the main program window with a single click, a hint appears on the left that informs you about the purpose of the selected icon. From the main program window, you can do the following:

1. Create Image - launches the Image Creation Wizard, which makes an exact copy of the entire hard disk or a separate partition and saves it to a file on the hard disk, in the security zone, on a network drive or on removable media.

2. Restore Image - launches the Image Restore Wizard. The wizard asks for parameters to restore a partition or the entire hard disk from an image file that was created earlier and starts the recovery process.

3. Mount Image - launches the Mount Image Wizard, which assigns a hard disk or partition image file, a letter and uses the image as a regular disk.

Review of data backup and recovery systems in the global and Russian markets. Tasks and means of backup and storage of data Development of a backup system

GFI backup software overview

General characteristics.

Introduction

How data backup and recovery systems work

The global market for backup and data recovery systems

Russian market of data backup and recovery systems

EMC

IBM

Symantec

CommVault

HP

Dell

Quantum

NetApp

CA Technologies

Acronis

Paragon

conclusions

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