[Nottingham] Tape Backup Systems

[Jim Moore]

Another thing to consider is an all-too-common problem of data 
duplication. I'm not talking just about on the backup level, I'm on 
about the live level as well, which directly influences the chosen 
solution.

To give an example, I have several backup policies in place. I do lots 
of video. I have, as I mentioned before, a filedump which holds the raw 
capture. This dump is cloned on an external "working" drive. The dump is 
on a machine with twin battery backup and that machine has only one use: 
video capture. When the job's done and the raw is copied, it gets shut 
down, the copy gets worked on, and in the event of EHD failure I can 
unpack a new drive and clone the raw captures again.

The video is processed using one or more discrete processors, depending 
on the time requirements. The finished articles go to three places: a 
safebound EHD, a quality DVDR and a local HD stack. The DVDs are stored 
offsite, the EHD goes into a fireproof safe, and the local stack is 
simply there for my own enjoyment.

 From this, you can see that duplication is very carefully controlled 
(out of habit more than out of OCD). There are no duplicates flying 
around that I don't know about and certainly none that I'm aware of.