Failing to store magnetic backup media in environmentally controlled offsite vaults can result in the five most common risks becoming realities for businesses that are trying to avoid just that.
The infrastructure surrounding vaults is also critical. Why store magnetic tapes in environmentally controlled vaults if they will simply be exposed to the risks of non-controlled environments during transit? Air-conditioned vehicles transporting the media to offsite facilities are therefore not added value, but a necessary service.
Security is paramount, from physical security at the vault to security during transit. Two drivers in vehicles at any given time, a vehicle tracking service such as Netstar or Tracker, unmarked vans and in-house vehicle tracking differentiate Metrofile`s security measures from the competition.
But the five most common risks companies fall prey to are:
* No controls;
* No protection;
* IT staff forgetting to return tapes to the office;
* Corporate governance and legislation not being met by incomplete, undocumented and backup practices that are not audited;
* Environmental storage factors.
There are others, such as a routine software upgrade that went wrong for the UK government`s Department of Works and Pensions (DWP), according to ComputerWorld. The system failure that resulted caused 80 000 desktop systems to stop functioning. The primary problem persisted for a full day and smaller issues remained a concern after that. The department, responsible for paying benefits to 24 million people, said the result was delayed payments to new and amended benefit claims, and also it forced employees to send faxes because the e-mail system was malfunctioning.
Magnetic media metromorphosis
Metromorphosis is the process by which a corporate body identifies, stores, accesses and retrieves corporate records in any format, at any time, during any stage of its ongoing evolutionary lifecycle.
Metrofile`s Metrovault service performs scheduled, unscheduled and after-hour deliveries 24 hours per day, 365 days a year. It guarantees a delivery time of less than two hours in major centres anywhere in the country around the country. Businesses can thus be brought back online, in the event of a disaster, within two hours if the necessary systems and procedures are in place.
The Metrofile vaults and processes are designed according to SABS standards. The backup, storage and retrieval process Metrovault employs is SABS-approved. Regular backups are scheduled with the client and performed, then transported to the nearest vault, where the tapes are barcode scanned onto the system to avoid errors. Human intervention and delivery can take place as part of a regular rotation of data storage medium or as part of a system malfunction or disaster recovery programme.
There are three primary storage offerings: metal containers, the courier bag system and an open rack.
Metal containers are securely locked, foam-lined and waterproof, are sealed at the customer`s site, and are available in various sizes to cater for various media types.
The courier bags can hold four magnetic tapes and because they are secure, can be left at reception desks, reducing delivery and collection times. The open rack storage fully managed tape library system ensures immediate retrieval of specific tapes, and is managed according to international standards and is cost-effective.
It is for these reasons, the best practice-based infrastructure and associated services, that the majority 80% of SA`s corporations use Metrofile`s Metrovault.
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