27-02-2013, 02:48 PM
Black Box Backup System
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Abstract
Modern organizations from different sizes (Small, , Medium and Large) consider information as
one of the most important of their assets that need to be secured against increasing number of
threats. The importance of the information comes from its impacts on the main tasks performed
by the organization. The evolution of Information Technology and Information Systems is
changing permanently the characteristics and the components of such systems and the ways
needed to protect them against any security risk.
Periodic data backup is a system administration task that has changed as new technologies have
altered the fundamental structure of networks. These changes encourage rethinking of modern
backup strategies and techniques. In addition, standard backup programs and specialized tools
are often needed.
INTRODUCTION
Every organization tries to deliver value from information Technology (IT) while managing an
increasingly complex range of IT-related risks. The best practice can help to avoid collisions, and
reduce the occurrence of major IT risks, such as: project failures, security breaches, system
crashes, and failures by service providers to meet the upon greed requirements. In addition,
today’s attacks aren’t as likely threats never seen; therefore technologies which will be able to
protect enterprise networks against these kinds of attacks should be chosen carefully and
designed properly.
The purpose of this paper is to find and contribute in a stable secured back up system which can
be resistant to any hazards, catastrophes, crises and natural disasters. The paper includes
discussions on the features and limitations of the native backup and recovery available programs.
It is hoped that the information presented here can help administrators consider tradeoffs in cost,
performance, and reliability for different types of solutions. Furthermore, most of backing up
techniques are utilizing for certain functions, such as the using of some techniques for backing up
file-system e.g. In the snap shot backup, the technique which was LVM (Logical Volume
Manager) and utilize the filesystem [1, 2].
DATA BACKUPS SYSTEMS
Data backup is a necessary requirement for every organization. The well-known traditional
reasons are system crash and disasters such as a flood and fire strike networks. Users may
inadvertently delete files or overwrite existing files, hackers or disgruntled employees do the
same purposely. Disk drives are inherently fragile devices. As a result, of that files become
corrupted by bad disk sectors, magnetic fields, and improper system shutdown. In addition to the
traditional threats, there are new threats such as thieves steal laptops, and the data contained on
them. The threat posed by modern worms dwarfs those of older worms [6], and they are able to
compromise every vulnerable machine on the Internet faster than any manual response can
prevent [7].
Nowadays, organizations’ computer and information systems are the most important assets and
organizations depend on them more than ever; therefore, loss of data is more expensive than
ever in terms of efforts spent and downtime and with increasing threats and increasing costs,
backups are more crucial than ever.
Therefore, developing a backup strategy is needed for specific network, data, and organizational
objectives (different strategies for different purposes). A survey of factors to consider is presented
in [8]. It provides an excellent planning tool for developing backup strategies.
Properties of Good Backups
In a well-managed network, backup operations are performed on a regular predefined basis.
Additionally, a good recovery system is essential. During both normal use and recovery, backup
operations should be transparent to users. Backup operations should be automatic and not be the
responsibility of users. Instead, a system administrator should centrally manage backup and
recovery operations. Since backups are of high priority, they should be managed by a person
who understands their importance, rather than a new hired or intern one.
Methods Available for Data Backup and Recovery
Backup solutions can be divided into two major categories. The first category includes the native
backup and recovery programs which backup volume data from file servers, also it is providing a
backup application that is needed by data to achieve the goal of backup process.
The second category relies on file system. These categories take data from a file server in the
same way that users access their data, which is very helpful in 24/7 environment.
Information storage strategies.
Having a data-backup-recovery strategy requires answering two questions:
1. How quickly must you recover the data before your business experiences serious setbacks?
2. How much are you willing to pay to implement a data-backup plan?
An organizations data should be backed up regularly on some type of removable medium, and
then delivered to another location for protection purpose.
Back up Practice / Cost
Storing the backed-up data in a secure place is called vaulting process, in which organizations
copy computer files regularly on removable medium (Magnetic tape, CD or hard disk), and then
delivered them to an off-site location for safekeeping. The timing of backups can vary depending
on the organization’s needs.
The off-site location called the renting a bank, with cost depending on the amount of space
needed and its location. Another but the more expensive strategy is the redundant computer
hardware, where if one component fails, a backup device keep the system running. An example
of this approach is to use a technology known as redundant array of independent disks (RAID).
There are many kinds of RAID systems, all of them designed to provide different levels of error
recovery and fault tolerance.
OUR CONTRIBUTION
The idea of using Black Box Backup System (BBBS) came from Black box (as in figure 2) system
used in aircraft. It is a generic term used to describe the computerized flight data recorders
carried by modern commercial aircraft. This device is typically used in conjunction with a second
black box known as the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), which documents radio transmissions
and sounds in the cockpit, such as the pilots' voices and engine noises. In the event of a mishap,
the information stored in these black boxes can be used to help determining the cause of the
accident.
RELATED WORK
Backup and recovery systems are hot topics covered by many researches in the past and
represent one of the most important security issues in the present. Theses research are based on
different approaches varying from performance oriented, security oriented to accessibility oriented
research. Our approach considers mainly the disaster recovery factor in addition to all other
prospective.
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
Most of backup strategies so far assume company data are located in easily identifiable and
accessible places, but more of data are being stored on personal desktops, laptops and personal
digital assistants, therefore dispersing important information into disparate isolated pockets.
There are three basic users of data to be considered in this work: the central office worker,
remote office staff member and the traveler. Office users and remote office should back up their
files to local storage devices such as a CD, Zip or tape drives as well as to a network frequently.
The most important data are the organization databases and applications, which should be
backed up almost every day or every moment; since it is the most important asset. Furthermore
theses data should be located in at least in two different locations, and should be proceed and
treated carefully using up to date secured techniques and technologies.