For small backups we normally use

About 8 GB has been trimmed off of the size of our main database. This is reflected in backups and when we look at free vs available space. Everything seems to be working and we can't find any sign that data is missing but we've never seen this before. We're a little worried that something untoward might have happened. Can anyone tell us how 8 GB of data can disappear? If this is a normal thing, we'd like to understand how it happened as being able to halve the size of your database backups is actually somewhat useful. We are running SQL Server Enterprise version 14.0.3391.2 on Windows Server 2019 Our main database is backed up every day just after midnight. The backup destination is a local disk. A new file is created for each database every time a backup runs. Our recovery mode is SIMPLE. Backups are not compressed. For at least the last couple of years, the backups have been around 15 GB each. Since 11 June, the file size has shrunk to just over 7 GB. Doing some research, one thread on DBA StackExchange related to someone who was accidentally creating multiple backups in a single file. I've run RESTORE HEADERONLY FROM DISK against backups from 10 June (15 GB) and 11 June (7 GB). Both appear to contain a single backup. I also didn't see any other noteworthy differences. Upon restoring the database, I observed the total size to be around 30 GB on both the current and restored database. The free space on the current database was around 19 GB, while on the restored database...

I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally for 30 years, more than half of that time with PCMag. I run several special projects including the Readers' Choice and Business Choice surveys, and yearly coverage of the Fastest ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs. I work from my home, and did it long before pandemics made it cool. We all know we're supposed to back up our data; it's essential for peace of mind. But one copy of a file on your computer does not a backup make. Redundancy, people, redundancy! As the organizers of (Opens in a new window) note, people produce quadrillions of files every year, but so many fail to take adequate steps to preserve their data. Computers can become infected, and accidents happen—but even after losing important documents, irreplaceable photos, or entire sets of financial records, most of us still don't back up. The most likely reason is that backing up takes some effort. At least one in five people have never backed up their data (according to the World Backup Day website). But the process is easier than ever. Here's a quick look at the types of backup available, as well as the tools you'll need to pull it off with as little work as possible. Types of PC Backup Backing up can be as simple as copying a file from one spot to another—from a hard drive to a removableUSB flash drive, for example. But your needs for redundancy, security, and access dictate what kind of backup you should use. Select Files and Folders If yo...

I'm using an old laptop, that I use for writing, and I would like to set up a backup system for. It has no WiFi (I don't want WiFi on it. Too many distractions come from the Internet) so backing up to the web isn't an option. I back up my files semi-regularly to an external drive, but if my hard drive dies in between those backups, I could potentially lose a week's worth of work, if not more. I'm thinking about sticking a micro SD card into the laptop and having the Windows 7 backup service make daily backups on that. I know it's not perfect, but it's the best safety net I can think of right now. If I'm only regularly backing up files that are only kilobytes large, how likely is it, that my SD card would fail? SD cards are usually rated from 10,000 to 100,000 write operations. To use fewer write cycles, you might zip all files daily and save just once. That said, if the probability of your HD failing were 0.1%, and the same for the SD card, the probability of both failing would be only 1/1,000,000 (and I estimated unrealistically high chance of failure), so it certainly seems a reasonable plan. BTW, encrypt the zip if it's sensitive material. in terms of hardware, the SD cards tends to be reliable for the situation you described. Backing up everyday after you finish your work in separated folder days might be a good option, but depending on the kind of work we are talking about, you should highly consider using the internet. • Source code: if the work is software code, con...

Albert Bassili Writer Albert Bassili is a freelance writer at How-to-Geek with eight years of experience in both commerce and tech writing. He's been a life-long lover of all sorts of tech and gadgets and has been building his own PCs for just under two decades now, and he has more gadgets than he actually needs. He's written for a variety of sites from SFGate to GameGavel. | ✔ Edited By Elizabeth Henges Commerce Editor Elizabeth Henges is the Commerce Editor for How-To Geek. She has close to a decade's experience reporting on tech, gaming, and gadgets. Elizabeth has had her commerce work featured on XDA Developers, The Inventory, and more. She has also written for publications The Washington Post and The Verge. Our Summary For those who want a straightforward and easy-to-use backup solution, Backblaze offers both a minimalist backup experience and straightforward pricing with an unlimited storage cap. If you’re looking for an online backup service that has cross-platform support and a great mobile and web interface, iDrive is the best you’re going to find, even if it only has a maximum storage space of 10TB. While Carbonite Safe may not be flashy, it’s a solid and minimalist online backup service at a reasonable price with the Basic Plan. If you’re a security-conscious person, then Acronis is a great choice given its suite of cybersecurity features, assuming you’re alright with smaller online storage than competitors. The lifetime subscription option and minimal...

This article looks at the 3-2-1 rule for backup, defines what it meant as originally intended and asks whether it has been superseded by recent developments. The conclusion we’ll come to is that the principles it embodies are good ones, and if it isn’t directly applicable to current scenarios, it does provide some essential guidelines about how we should protect data in the 2020s. Defining the 3-2-1 rule The term 3-2-1 was coined by US photographer 3: The rule said there should be three copies of data. One is the original or production copy, then there should be two more copies, making three. 2: The two backup copies should be on different media. The theory here was that should one backup be corrupted or destroyed, then another would be available. Those threats could be IT-based, which dictated that data be held in a discrete system or media, or physical. 1: The final “one” referred to the rule that one copy of the two Shortcomings of the 3-2-1 rule This set of rules is fairly limited, if taken as originally intended. The idea of three copies is fine. It seems to fit the bill of a minimum viable number to ensure recovery in case of disaster. But the two backup copies being on different media is full of potential limitations and pitfalls today. The idea was that the first of the two is for fairly rapid recovery, so would be accessible from the main production system. The second, so says the rule, should be on different media. Back when photographer Krogh coined the idea, th...

Currently we are using ReadyNAS by NETGEAR to hold all our images from all our machines. My question is can viruses expand from the machines and infect the NAS drive and the backups? We are using AOMEI Backupper. EDIT: Basically, I want to keep my clean backups clean. I keep Daily, Weekly, Monthly achievable backups, my worry is a virus might attempt or try to infect these backups making using them worthless. A backup is a backup, a file is a file. If a file is infected with a virus, and you backup it, then the backupped file contains the virus, and when you restore it the virus is still there. From the point of view of the backup system, a virus is just a bunch of bytes. This is why recovery after a virus infection is hard: you have to restore a backup which predates the infection. On the other hand, while the backup will gleefully save and restore viruses, the NAS itself (which is, internally, a computer with its own operating system) should be safe from such viruses, because it will not try to execute the files it copies, and in any case probably uses a distinct architecture (ARM, Sparc... but not x86). It can... usually a virus can't infect the NAS itself, but it could infect a computer you restore to. The usual thinking is that when recovering from a virus infection, you will update your anti-virus signatures so it can detect the virus - and then the restore is safe. During such a restore you may restrict the type of files that you restore, for example not restoring a...

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Is your organization prepared for a disaster? A solid backup strategy is one of the key elements of being prepared. Get started developing your organization's backup strategy with these tips and best practices. Editor's note:This article was originally excerpted from TechSoup's Regular backups are vital insurance against a data-loss catastrophe. In this article, we'll offer some best practices and basic strategies for backup. Be sure to also read our follow-up article on Saving Time by Spending Time Developing a solid backup plan requires an investment of time and money, but the cost is far less than the burdensome task of recreating data for which no backup exists. Susan at the Eagle's Nest Foundation (ENF) is no stranger to IT disasters. ENF's remote campsite frequently deals with power and Internet failures. Susan had this to say about regular backups:"It's better to 'waste' the time backing up than to dread the effects of a disaster that could happen any time. Redundancy in communication options is very important, as is having off-site resources for communication when your systems are down. We have two offices in different parts of the state. This gives us an excellent natural backup strategy." Understanding On-Premises and Remote Backup There are two broadly defined approaches to backup: on-premises backup and remote backup. Either route (or both) may be appropriate for your nonprofit. On-Premises Backup In an on-premises setup, you can copy your data to a second hard...