How do I maximise storage capacity when doing backups?

Hardware or software failure and accidental deletion are the two most common reasons why data loss occurs. Backing up is the only way you can preserve your data when things go wrong. However, backup adds to the problem of storage space. In essence, where are you going to store that backed up data and how do you make sure that you are optimising the storage space you have at your disposal? Here's how..

The most common reasons why people lose their data is because of hard disk failure, loss of data integrity through software failure, and such human errors as accidental deletion of the required data. You can only preserve your data if you back it up following certain policies to ensure that the integrity of your data is not compromised (read, Verification and Preservation: How do I ensure Data Integrity of Backups? ).

Your data presents another problem. It just keeps on growing and growing and growing. Consider the following facts:

• In 2004, IDC found that 52.5% of respondents to a survey it conducted stated that the main driver for the demand of more data storage is the increased use of email.
• IDC also found that 13.5 trillion total emails were transmitted in 2003. This figure is expected to rise to 19.7 trillion in 2005.
  
• The Radicati Group found that that each user will send/receive an average of 4.6Mb daily in 2005.

Now wonder that the demand for storage is increasing:

• According to International Data Corporation (IDC), 177.5 million Personal Computers were shipped in 2004, a 14.7% growth of over 2003 (154.7 million units). The figure for 2005 is estimated to register a 10% growth over 2004.
• 212.5 million Hard drives were shipped in 2002 which represented 8.5 million terabytes of total storage space. Estimates for 2005 are 15 million terabytes.

And it won't stop!

So what can you do in the face of this growing amount of data?

An Option - Expanding Storage Space
Just last week I bought a new 80 Gb external hard drive to store all the data I have at home (documents, family photos and music). I had been juggling with a small 4Gb hard drive for a couple of years, deleting this, deleting that, zipping here and zipping there. I have an old notebook that doesn't have a CD/DVD writer.

I opted for an external drive rather than a CD writer simply because the equivalent of 80 Gb of storage space on CD or DVD means that I'd also have to buy CD's and/or DVDs. Moreover, you cannot install Applications on CDs or DVDs and there is the added hassle of having to change from one CD/DVD to another just to access your data. Over time you tend to forget what you stored what where and searching for files can become a cumbersome and tiring experience. The single hard drive is fantastic option in this light!

Backup adds to the problem of data storage: Where are you going to store your backed up data?

In my situation, I started backing up my most important data on two pen drives - I have 3.5 Gb of data excluding my music. I am not backing up my music for now - however, I am seriously concerned and I will be buying an external DVD drive to be able to backup all my files. Or should I?

The backup software I use (WinBackup, see screenshot below) allows me to compress the data into smaller blocks so that I can easily transfer 3.5 Gb of data onto two pen drives that together make up about 750 Mb. However, my photos and my music are already in compressed formats (jpg and mp3) hence no further compression is possible. Therefore, if you have 1 Gb of music and/or photos you'll end up with a backup file that is as large.

Click to Enlarge

Option Two - Compression
Compression is a brilliant way to save space on your storage medium. Data compression aims to represent your data as accurately as possible using the fewest number of bits. Similar to ZIPping a file, your backup software should allow you to compress your data in a backup archive that is smaller than the original data. Otherwise you might as well burn your original data somewhere else.

The critical aspects of compression, and this is where one backup software differs from another, are (a) the rate of compression and (b) compression ratio.

Compression ratios are the ratio of the original data to the backup archive. In my case it is 3.5 Gb to 750 Mb - quite good. The rate of compression relates to the speed. In my case, it takes about 10 minutes to perform the backup at maximum compression rate. But it's well worth it because I save money. In fact, if it weren't for my MP3s, I wouldn't even bother getting a DVD writer as I am well catered for.

Option Three - Total v. Incremental Backups
Total Backup means that all your files will be backed up without checking if these files are new or modified. If you are running any backup software for the first time, you should definitely choose this option. If you keep on using the Total Backup option for your subsequent backups, your software will back up your entire files every time. Keep in mind that such a procedure may take a considerable amount of time and disk space when your files run in high amounts of megabytes or gigabytes.

If you decide to perform only Total Backups, then restores are a question of restoring the latest total backup archive.

Incremental Backup means that only new and modified files will be backed up. This implies that files that were not changed since the last backup will not be backed up again. The advantage of Incremental Backup over Total Backup is that it is faster, since only the newest files are backed up. This saves disk space and backup time.

To perform a full restore you must first restore the last total backup the restore each consecutive incremental backup from the last total backup. For example, if you performed a total backup on Friday and incremental changes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and the PC crashes on Thursday morning, you will have to restore the full backup of Friday and the incremental changes of three days to return to restore your system completely to its original state before crash.

Remember that it is good practice to do Total Backup at least weekly. We always advise our customers to do a Total Backup weekly while having an incremental backup performed daily.

Compression Ratios and the Ultimate Solution
When buying backup software (or if you are thinking of upgrading or moving to another brand), make sure of your compression speeds and ratios. Ratio is the most important as it is what will save you money. Think also in the long term and try and weigh what is best.

In my situation, for example, I am thinking of adding a third hard drive rather than getting a DVD writer. It's the most convenient, to be honest. By getting a third drive which is smaller I also save money by not having to buy CDs and DVDs all the time. Yes, you can over write CDs and DVDs but I don't want to end up with a whole library of DVDs in my drawers anyway. My physical storage is shrinking too and sadly you can't compress that!

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