What kind of backup to use?

[JohnnyK]

For a small dental office, the tape backup that they normally use has
gone kaput. They are wondering what is the best type of backup method to
use now (tape, cd, dvd, etc)? The way it backups is through the actual
program they use.. IE, at the end of the day, it asks if you want to
backup, then you just put the tape in, and it goes. I don't know if it's
compatible with CD or DVD, but i would think it might be. Any
suggestions on what to use, and if so, what brands? Thanks!

 

[Stacey]

For a small dental office, the tape backup that they normally use has
gone kaput. They are wondering what is the best type of backup method to
use now (tape, cd, dvd, etc)? The way it backups is through the actual
program they use.. IE, at the end of the day, it asks if you want to
backup, then you just put the tape in, and it goes. I don't know if it's
compatible with CD or DVD, but i would think it might be. Any
suggestions on what to use, and if so, what brands?

Several solutions depending on how critical the data is. If they have
several machines networked, you could just save the data across several
drives/machines. It isn't likely that multiple machines will die,
especially if they aren't conected to the internet and have the risk or
virus infections. CD's are another way and I'm sure there is incremental
software that only backs up what was changed that day. Unless you have a
BUNCH of data, a DVD isn't going to be the best route IMHO.

 

[Gerard Bok]

Several solutions depending on how critical the data is. If they have
several machines networked, you could just save the data across several
drives/machines. It isn't likely that multiple machines will die,
especially if they aren't conected to the internet and have the risk or
virus infections. CD's are another way and I'm sure there is incremental
software that only backs up what was changed that day. Unless you have a
BUNCH of data, a DVD isn't going to be the best route IMHO.

Although 'going down at once' might not be very likely for
several machines, both fire and theft will probaly affect all
PC's

NB. Never underestimate the virus risk in a dental care facility

 

[Stacey]

Although 'going down at once' might not be very likely for
several machines, both fire and theft will probaly affect all
PC's

Unless they were taking these tapes off site, no difference..

NB. Never underestimate the virus risk in a dental care facility

Yep, hopefully they don't have internet access there, at least not onto the
whole network.

 

[Cyde Weys]

For a small dental office, the tape backup that they normally use has
gone kaput. They are wondering what is the best type of backup method to
use now (tape, cd, dvd, etc)? The way it backups is through the actual
program they use.. IE, at the end of the day, it asks if you want to
backup, then you just put the tape in, and it goes. I don't know if it's
compatible with CD or DVD, but i would think it might be. Any
suggestions on what to use, and if so, what brands? Thanks!

How much data are we talking about here? Is this just a database of
payments, customers, check-up dates, etc.? If it's a small amount of
data, burning it to CD sounds fine. Also, backing it up nightly sounds
like overkill. Burning their data to a CD each Friday night should be
fine. Although even that might be overkill; depending on how many
machines they have there (and what ruggedness of backup you're looking
for), they could just copy the data over to other machines or get a
RAID0 array.