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Programming

You have just purchased software that does 90% of what you want or may need. That extra 10% can be the difference between making a profit and losing money. Your own specific requirement can give you the edge over your competitors.

We can extend the capabilities of your current applications, saving you time and money.

We have experience in integrating and extending applications. Your applications from various vendors, running on different operating systems, can share information.

Please contact us with any questions.

Backup

Backing UP 101

For most computer users backing up is very much like going to a dentist - people invent thousands of reasons to not do it: takes too much time, interferes with work, too expensive, etc. But even if one realizes the necessity of backups, there still remains a question: how to start? What backup scheme to choose to avoid disasters and reduce potential losses to the minimum?

The first strategy that may come to mind is simply to write out the list of most important and often modified folders and begin regularly copying them to some external storage, with a timestamp (to be able to rollback to a situation when everything was working properly). While at first this may seem like an effective plan, upon closer look it appears not that good. In case of CD/DVD discs regular backing up becomes infinite "remove disc, insert new disc" boredom, while a single external HDD isn't reliable enough - if it fails, you're left without any support.

At this point, it becomes obvious that optimal data backup strategy should involve the use of several different storage media and "intelligent" backup method (i.e. incremental backup or differential backup). It suggests a sort of a balance between reasonable number of storage media and reliability of a backup scheme. For example, a full backup on Sunday and incremental backups throughout the week can work well; still it's far from perfect.

Over time, people have developed several techniques that enable balancing data retention with cost of extra storage media. Two most popular backup rotation strategies are called Grandfather-Father-Son (also known as GFS or Grandparent-parent-child) and Tower of Hanoi.

Grandfather-Father-Son

Grandfather-father-son is the most widely used backup rotation schedule. According to this backup rotation schedule incremental backups are performed daily, while full backups are done weekly and monthly.

First of all, from one to four media sets are designated for incremental daily backups. As daily incremental backup backs up the least of the data, compared with other backup sessions in this backup rotation schedule, any of these media sets can be referred to as 'son'. These media sets are reused each week on the designated day.

Secondly, full backups are performed weekly - daily incremental backup is not performed on this day. As the first backup needs to be a full backup, the scheme is started on Friday, the day of the full backup. Consequently, the media set used on Friday can be referred to as 'father'.

Furthermore, on the last business day of the month a full backup is performed to a new media set, which can be referred to as 'grandfather'. These media sets are designated for specific months throughout the year.

As the backup data size can vary, each of these media sets may be a single backup medium or multiple backup media sets. To complete a quarterly backup rotation, a total of twelve backup media sets are required when using this basic backup rotation schedule. Sometimes one may wish backup history needs to be saved - in this case a media set with a full backup is taken from the rotation and replaced with a new media set.

Tower of Hanoi

The Tower of Hanoi backup rotation schedule stems from a puzzle, which was invented by Edouard Lucas, a French mathematician, in 1883. The game consisted of three pegs with eight discs placed on one of them. The task was to move all the discs to another peg, never placing a smaller disc under a larger one.

Just like in the game, the backup media sets are rotated through the entire backup process. Compared with the Grandfather-father-son rotation schedule, this one can employ more backup media sets and save a deeper backup history - the less often the backup media set is used, the older data version it has. This backup rotation schedule requires only five backup media sets to perform backups during a month every day, for instance.

How the Tower of Hanoi Backup Rotation Schedule Works

In this backup rotation schedule the first media set is used every second day, the second media set is used when the first set is not used and is used every fourth day, the third media set is used when neither of the previous sets are used and every eighth day and so on.

Each additional backup media set, added to the rotation, doubles the backup history, and is used only when the previous sets are not used, thus, the later a backup media set is added to the history, the less it is used and the older files it stores are. This enables one to have a deep backup history, but does not allow storing many recent backup copies, as a daily backup is erased in two days, for example.

Online Backups

Using a file server for data storage is not a novel idea, but it is an idea whose time has come. Storing data on external computers has been a standard business practice for years; in the 1980's many companies looked for ways to fuse a growing number of workstations and data into a centralized database. The essential technology was developed initially by the Novell Company, which stepped in with their Netware operating system. This system was geared specifically for network file servers in corporate environments.

File servers are geared specifically towards the modern workplace, providing companies the enhanced capability to collaborate on projects between offices, regardless of location. Storing shared documents online is an elegant solution to the problem of having teams based in several cities, even various continents, work together on the same project. Online storage providers make this once impossible accomplishment as commonplace as checking email.

Online storage providers also give companies a measure of data security. While companies will, of course, maintain locally stored data, using online storage providers allows said data to be backed up with remote servers. This is particularly helpful in light of hardware failures or natural disasters. What could be a calamitous occurrence could turn out to be a mere inconvenience. Having this kind of data insurance gives businesses an incredible sense of stability and security.

There are a number of online file storage services currently available, offering all of the conveniences of local file storage while facilitating global collaboration and added security. Users can retrieve files stored on the file server as if it were on their own computers. This increases ease of use for employees whether or not they know the first thing about online file storage. Companies can have their pick from the throng of online servers, especially with regards to storage solutions. A simple search engine query will pull up a number of results that can meet any company's needs.

Online file storage is the perfect solution for companies who want to stay competitive in today's around the clock, globally connected business environment. Providing an online file server to employees is a useful asset for any company. Your data needs to be secure, but accessible. Online storage solutions allow your company to access necessary documents and data. In this fast paced world, the speed of access is equitable to the speed of success.