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Backing up

A backup policy states what decisions have been made and what should be happening. It does not detail specifically how the backups will be carried out on a day-to-day basis. For this, you may need to create backup procedures based on your individual policy.

There can be no ‘best-practice’ or ‘ideal’ policy because each organisation has different needs. The best policy will be the one that is easy to implement, but ensures that all the data that you may wish to restore, at some point in the future, can be recovered.

By completing a policy document for your organisation, you can become aware of what data is being backed up, how it is being backed up, and whether the existing processes can be improved. It is also a way of assigning responsibility for tasks, to designated roles or persons, so that there is accountability for the processes.

A backup and trial-restore policy is a document that lists all the important strategic decisions about your backup and restore scheme. For example, the policy may state the following:

the organisation backing up the data
what files/folders are to be backed up
which PCs will be backed up
how often the files/folders are to be backed up
what backup media is to be used
what backup drive is to be used
how the backup will be performed
what time the backup will be performed
what backup software will be used
what backup type is to be used
what backup options will be used
how often the media will be rotated
how often the media will be replaced
when the media is next due for replacement
what disk/tape maintenance procedures will be carried out
what media maintenance procedures will be carried out
how often the disk/tape drive will be maintained
how often the media will be maintained
how often trial restores will be carried out
who is responsible for backups
who is responsible for restores
who is responsible for maintenance
who is responsible for replacements
where the media is stored (both on-site and off-site)
how the media is to be stored (both on-site and off-site)
who is responsible for delivering and storing the off-site media
what is the availability of the off-site media

Swinburne University has a comprehensive back up policy. To view this document go to: http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ >> Search Policies and Procedures >> Type in “Server and Core Database Backup Restore”

The Sydney Morning Herald has an excellent article on “Why you should back up”. You can read it by clicking on the following link.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/why-you-should-ialwaysi-backup/2009/03/03/1235842538481.html

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