We have all used tape backups but while they are fantastic with storing archival data for long periods they are terrible at giving you what you want when you want it. This is because it takes just as long to restore data from tape as it does to back it up in the first place. Hours!

Have you suffered a major server failure? How long did it take to rebuild the server? Days!

Today, I had a chance to spend the day with ShadowProtect.
Imagine being able to restore any file in seconds, or boot a copy of your server as a virtual machine within minutes of a failure.
The difference is sector level not file level backup. Backup a typical C drive with 20gb data on a 70gb hard disk in about 2 minutes.
This means you can now do 15 minute incremental backups every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

So where do I store my data?
* an enterprise onsite storage repository such as an old server, external array or enterprise Nas
* an offsite device like an external hard drive or an online storage repository.

Buy I hav a tape drive?
ShadowProtect does not support tape directly but you could use tape to provide a long term archival backup copy of your data.

How hard is it to configure?
* one backup job per storage volume
* schedule volumes with staggered start time at regular intervals
- It’s that easy

So how does it protect you?
ShadowProtect creates a virtual image at regular rapid intervals (or portion of a virtual image).
This allows us to restore a virtual copy of your server as it was minutes ago to keep you operating while we repair your physical server or we can mount the virtual disk as a drive to restore a file in seconds.

How does this differ to acronis or backup exec as they also do images and virtual machines?
The block level shadow copied backups of your system done by ShadowProtect are smaller, faster and place less load on the system so you can do them more often.

Want to find out more? Ask us how.

The recent floods in Queensland and Victoria demonstrates to us just how insignificant we are in comparison to mother nature.  On behalf of myself and the I Know IT team we extend our most sincere condolences to those who have been affected by the floods and, particularly those families who have lost loved ones in this dreadful disaster.  Nothing is more precious than human life.

The floods undoubtedly have reminded many of us that protecting our families is so important and that it’s people first.  For those who are safe and are now returning to their business premises will be hoping that their disaster recovery strategies have worked [...]

Our beloved “coathanger” – the Sydney Harbour Bridge was and still is one of the most significant investments ever made in Australia’s infrastructure.  The long awaited and much debated bridge finally opened in 1932 linking the CBD to the North Shore connecting Sydneysiders together.

Since then, the bridge has attracted tourists from all over the world, is used by corporations to generate new business in Australia and continues to bring opportunities to our shores (think: Oprah’s big O which I’ll cover further down in this article).

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