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Hi,

I have a client that wants to have their data backed up remotely/offsite
rather than constantly putting a new tape in the local tape drive everyday.

I was wondering if any one has any thoughts on doing this over the internet.
We have arround 4GB of data to back up each day. Incremental does not work
since all files are updated each day so the whole 4GB must be backed up.

If I first compress the data I can get it down to 25% of original size,
around 1GB. The client currently is not connected to the internet so I was
thinking of subscribing them to something like Primus high speed (4Mb/s)
around $89/month and get them a static ip to use.

I have boxes offsite that connect to the internet at 5Mb/s and I was
thinking of using one of those to do an sftp of the data using cron
scheduled job at night. I figure 1GB would take around less then 1 hour..

Any advice from fellow sysops?

Thanks!

Two options. rdiff and rsync. rdiff may have the edge because you can
save the deltas.

Regards

Steve.

juicer wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have a client that wants to have their data backed up
remotely/offsite
> rather than constantly putting a new tape in the local tape drive
everyday.
>
> I was wondering if any one has any thoughts on doing this over the
internet.
> We have arround 4GB of data to back up each day. Incremental does not
work
> since all files are updated each day so the whole 4GB must be backed
up.
>
> If I first compress the data I can get it down to 25% of original
size,
> around 1GB. The client currently is not connected to the internet so
I was
> thinking of subscribing them to something like Primus high speed
(4Mb/s)
> around $89/month and get them a static ip to use.
>
> I have boxes offsite that connect to the internet at 5Mb/s and I was
> thinking of using one of those to do an sftp of the data using cron
> scheduled job at night. I figure 1GB would take around less then 1
hour..
>
> Any advice from fellow sysops?
>
> Thanks!

"juicer" <x> wrote in message news:kq2dnRahD61a3KvfRVn-oQ@rogers.com...
> Hi,
>
> I have a client that wants to have their data backed up remotely/offsite
> rather than constantly putting a new tape in the local tape drive
everyday.
>
> I was wondering if any one has any thoughts on doing this over the
internet.
> We have arround 4GB of data to back up each day. Incremental does not work
> since all files are updated each day so the whole 4GB must be backed up.
>
> If I first compress the data I can get it down to 25% of original size,
> around 1GB. The client currently is not connected to the internet so I was
> thinking of subscribing them to something like Primus high speed (4Mb/s)
> around $89/month and get them a static ip to use.
>
> I have boxes offsite that connect to the internet at 5Mb/s and I was
> thinking of using one of those to do an sftp of the data using cron
> scheduled job at night. I figure 1GB would take around less then 1 hour..
>
> Any advice from fellow sysops?
On thing that I feel is VERY VERY IMPORTANT here. SECURITY! This client is
not currently attached to the internet. Do they have the ability to manage a
box that is effectivly on the internet. They will need a professional
firewall, virus software and the ability to maintain a secure server. What
is the data that they want to ship across the open internet? There are
legal issues to deal with of there is personal or customer information in
this data. My guess would be they want to save some money buy sending the
data off site and not buy tapes... Tapes might be cheaper in the long run!
No, unless the data is something useless to other, and if that is the case,
why back it up, I wouldn't even consider it.

Doug

"Douglas R. Probst" <doug.probst@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:0bSdndBzeKnNfKvfRVn-sQ@rcn.net...
>
> "juicer" <x> wrote in message news:kq2dnRahD61a3KvfRVn-oQ@rogers.com...
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a client that wants to have their data backed up remotely/offsite
>> rather than constantly putting a new tape in the local tape drive
> everyday.
>>
>> I was wondering if any one has any thoughts on doing this over the
> internet.
>> We have arround 4GB of data to back up each day. Incremental does not
>> work
>> since all files are updated each day so the whole 4GB must be backed up.
>>
>> If I first compress the data I can get it down to 25% of original size,
>> around 1GB. The client currently is not connected to the internet so I
>> was
>> thinking of subscribing them to something like Primus high speed (4Mb/s)
>> around $89/month and get them a static ip to use.
>>
>> I have boxes offsite that connect to the internet at 5Mb/s and I was
>> thinking of using one of those to do an sftp of the data using cron
>> scheduled job at night. I figure 1GB would take around less then 1 hour..
>>
>> Any advice from fellow sysops?
> On thing that I feel is VERY VERY IMPORTANT here. SECURITY! This client
> is
> not currently attached to the internet. Do they have the ability to manage
> a
> box that is effectivly on the internet. They will need a professional
> firewall, virus software and the ability to maintain a secure server.
> What
> is the data that they want to ship across the open internet? There are
> legal issues to deal with of there is personal or customer information in
> this data. My guess would be they want to save some money buy sending the
> data off site and not buy tapes... Tapes might be cheaper in the long run!
> No, unless the data is something useless to other, and if that is the
> case,
> why back it up, I wouldn't even consider it.
>
> Doug
>
>
Doug, some good points to ponder..

I was planning to use secure ftp with public/private key and only open port
22 on the firewall. Any issues there?

"juicer" <x> wrote in message news:kq2dnRahD61a3KvfRVn-oQ@rogers.com...
> Hi,
>
> I have a client that wants to have their data backed up remotely/offsite
> rather than constantly putting a new tape in the local tape drive
everyday.
>
> I was wondering if any one has any thoughts on doing this over the
internet.
> We have arround 4GB of data to back up each day. Incremental does not work
> since all files are updated each day so the whole 4GB must be backed up.
>
> If I first compress the data I can get it down to 25% of original size,
> around 1GB. The client currently is not connected to the internet so I was
> thinking of subscribing them to something like Primus high speed (4Mb/s)
> around $89/month and get them a static ip to use.
>
> I have boxes offsite that connect to the internet at 5Mb/s and I was
> thinking of using one of those to do an sftp of the data using cron
> scheduled job at night. I figure 1GB would take around less then 1 hour..
>
> Any advice from fellow sysops?
>
> Thanks!
>
>

Are you really thinking of backing up your customer's data on your servers?
I guess if they ever need to restore the data you could just name you own
price for the service.

I see two big problems with the idea of backing up throught the internet to
your server. Your customer's network connection speed will probably be
asymetrical which means that they get 4Mb/s download but a vastly slower
speed for uploads. This will make the data transfer take much longer than
expected. Taking responsibility for the storage of a company's data is a
huge responsibility. You would have complete liability for the security of
the data and responsibility for its restoration in the event that it needed.
Your customer is basically handing you the keys to their company. If there
is any problem with the security of the data or any problem restoring the
data you could face a law suit.

Tape drives and tapes are very inexpense compared to the value of the data.
Buy a good tape drive and have the customer rotate through at least two
weeks worth of tapes. Have them take the previous day's backup off site.
These minimal steps will let them recover from a complete system failure or
any data corruption that they discover for up to two weeks after the problem
occured.

Yours truly,

Kevin Sproule

"Kevin Sproule" <kevinsproule@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:R6MZd.114105$FM3.80106@fed1read02...
>
> "juicer" <x> wrote in message news:kq2dnRahD61a3KvfRVn-oQ@rogers.com...
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a client that wants to have their data backed up remotely/offsite
>> rather than constantly putting a new tape in the local tape drive
> everyday.
>>
>> I was wondering if any one has any thoughts on doing this over the
> internet.
>> We have arround 4GB of data to back up each day. Incremental does not
>> work
>> since all files are updated each day so the whole 4GB must be backed up.
>>
>> If I first compress the data I can get it down to 25% of original size,
>> around 1GB. The client currently is not connected to the internet so I
>> was
>> thinking of subscribing them to something like Primus high speed (4Mb/s)
>> around $89/month and get them a static ip to use.
>>
>> I have boxes offsite that connect to the internet at 5Mb/s and I was
>> thinking of using one of those to do an sftp of the data using cron
>> scheduled job at night. I figure 1GB would take around less then 1 hour..
>>
>> Any advice from fellow sysops?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>>
>
> Are you really thinking of backing up your customer's data on your
> servers?
> I guess if they ever need to restore the data you could just name you own
> price for the service.
>
> I see two big problems with the idea of backing up throught the internet
> to
> your server. Your customer's network connection speed will probably be
> asymetrical which means that they get 4Mb/s download but a vastly slower
> speed for uploads. This will make the data transfer take much longer than
> expected. Taking responsibility for the storage of a company's data is a
> huge responsibility. You would have complete liability for the security
> of
> the data and responsibility for its restoration in the event that it
> needed.
> Your customer is basically handing you the keys to their company. If
> there
> is any problem with the security of the data or any problem restoring the
> data you could face a law suit.
>
> Tape drives and tapes are very inexpense compared to the value of the
> data.
> Buy a good tape drive and have the customer rotate through at least two
> weeks worth of tapes. Have them take the previous day's backup off site.
> These minimal steps will let them recover from a complete system failure
> or
> any data corruption that they discover for up to two weeks after the
> problem
> occured.
>
> Yours truly,
>
> Kevin Sproule
>
>
Hey Kevin, nothing like having the customer at your mercy..lol..But
seriously, your right. I was just hypothecially thinking.

Kevin Sproule <kevinsproule@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Buy a good tape drive and have the customer rotate through at least two
> weeks worth of tapes. Have them take the previous day's backup off site.

Additionally, once a month replace a backup tape with a new one and keep
these monthly backups for several years.
Sometimes, due to software bugs, databases can 'rot': data get corrupted
over time at a rate slow enough that you do not notice it until months
later. Then a backup two weeks old will not help you.

Also, and this is the aspect of backup most frequently overlooked,
having somebody change the tapes every day isn't enough: you must also
check the log files if the backup was successful or not.

Yours,
Laurenz Albe

Laurenz Albe <albe@culturallNOSPAM.com> wrote in
news:d18rnh$8f8$1@paperboy.Austria.EU.net:
> Also, and this is the aspect of backup most frequently overlooked,
> having somebody change the tapes every day isn't enough: you must also
> check the log files if the backup was successful or not.
Actualy, if you want to be sure, you read the whole tape on another drive.

My first introduction to tapes was the terror from the deep called QIC-120.

--
Doing AIX support was the most monty-pythonesque
activity available at the time.
Eagerly awaiting my thin chocolat mint.