Choosing a Backup Environment for Windows NT

Backups are the most important task you can do to protect the vital data on your computer. The basic hardware, operating system, and application software can be replaced at a relatively small price. However, the data and programs you or your co-workers have generated cannot be reproduced easily. Hours, weeks, months, and years are embodied in this data. There is no possible price someone can put on that kind of time and effort. Proper backups are the only way you can guarantee restoration of your data subsequent to system failures.

Some people may consider it a mundane task. However, at many sites there are technical issues, political concerns, and integration challenges that make the assignment of implementing the corporate backup and recovery system(s) interesting and fun.

This paper provides a summary of the process involved with choosing a backup environment for Windows NT. The details are fully covered in the book, Windows NT Backup and Recovery that will be published by O'Reilly and Associates in the fall of 1997. Due to the scope of planning and implementing a successful backup system, not all the information necessary can be provided in this short paper. Where the information is too great to fit in this paper, you will be referred to the book.