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📄 Contents

  1. Management Reference Guide
  2. Table of Contents
  3. Introduction
  4. Strategic Management
  5. Establishing Goals, Objectives, and Strategies
  6. Aligning IT Goals with Corporate Business Goals
  7. Utilizing Effective Planning Techniques
  8. Developing Worthwhile Mission Statements
  9. Developing Worthwhile Vision Statements
  10. Instituting Practical Corporate Values
  11. Budgeting Considerations in an IT Environment
  12. Introduction to Conducting an Effective SWOT Analysis
  13. IT Governance and Disaster Recovery, Part One
  14. IT Governance and Disaster Recovery, Part Two
  15. Customer Management
  16. Identifying Key External Customers
  17. Identifying Key Internal Customers
  18. Negotiating with Customers and Suppliers—Part 1: An Introduction
  19. Negotiating With Customers and Suppliers—Part 2: Reaching Agreement
  20. Negotiating and Managing Realistic Customer Expectations
  21. Service Management
  22. Identifying Key Services for Business Users
  23. Service-Level Agreements That Really Work
  24. How IT Evolved into a Service Organization
  25. FAQs About Systems Management (SM)
  26. FAQs About Availability (AV)
  27. FAQs About Performance and Tuning (PT)
  28. FAQs About Service Desk (SD)
  29. FAQs About Change Management (CM)
  30. FAQs About Configuration Management (CF)
  31. FAQs About Capacity Planning (CP)
  32. FAQs About Network Management
  33. FAQs About Storage Management (SM)
  34. FAQs About Production Acceptance (PA)
  35. FAQs About Release Management (RM)
  36. FAQs About Disaster Recovery (DR)
  37. FAQs About Business Continuity (BC)
  38. FAQs About Security (SE)
  39. FAQs About Service Level Management (SL)
  40. FAQs About Financial Management (FN)
  41. FAQs About Problem Management (PM)
  42. FAQs About Facilities Management (FM)
  43. Process Management
  44. Developing Robust Processes
  45. Establishing Mutually Beneficial Process Metrics
  46. Change Management—Part 1
  47. Change Management—Part 2
  48. Change Management—Part 3
  49. Audit Reconnaissance: Releasing Resources Through the IT Audit
  50. Problem Management
  51. Problem Management–Part 2: Process Design
  52. Problem Management–Part 3: Process Implementation
  53. Business Continuity Emergency Communications Plan
  54. Capacity Planning – Part One: Why It is Seldom Done Well
  55. Capacity Planning – Part Two: Developing a Capacity Planning Process
  56. Capacity Planning — Part Three: Benefits and Helpful Tips
  57. Capacity Planning – Part Four: Hidden Upgrade Costs and
  58. Improving Business Process Management, Part 1
  59. Improving Business Process Management, Part 2
  60. 20 Major Elements of Facilities Management
  61. Major Physical Exposures Common to a Data Center
  62. Evaluating the Physical Environment
  63. Nightmare Incidents with Disaster Recovery Plans
  64. Developing a Robust Configuration Management Process
  65. Developing a Robust Configuration Management Process – Part Two
  66. Automating a Robust Infrastructure Process
  67. Improving High Availability — Part One: Definitions and Terms
  68. Improving High Availability — Part Two: Definitions and Terms
  69. Improving High Availability — Part Three: The Seven R's of High Availability
  70. Improving High Availability — Part Four: Assessing an Availability Process
  71. Methods for Brainstorming and Prioritizing Requirements
  72. Introduction to Disk Storage Management — Part One
  73. Storage Management—Part Two: Performance
  74. Storage Management—Part Three: Reliability
  75. Storage Management—Part Four: Recoverability
  76. Twelve Traits of World-Class Infrastructures — Part One
  77. Twelve Traits of World-Class Infrastructures — Part Two
  78. Meeting Today's Cooling Challenges of Data Centers
  79. Strategic Security, Part One: Assessment
  80. Strategic Security, Part Two: Development
  81. Strategic Security, Part Three: Implementation
  82. Strategic Security, Part Four: ITIL Implications
  83. Production Acceptance Part One – Definition and Benefits
  84. Production Acceptance Part Two – Initial Steps
  85. Production Acceptance Part Three – Middle Steps
  86. Production Acceptance Part Four – Ongoing Steps
  87. Case Study: Planning a Service Desk Part One – Objectives
  88. Case Study: Planning a Service Desk Part Two – SWOT
  89. Case Study: Implementing an ITIL Service Desk – Part One
  90. Case Study: Implementing a Service Desk Part Two – Tool Selection
  91. Ethics, Scandals and Legislation
  92. Outsourcing in Response to Legislation
  93. Supplier Management
  94. Identifying Key External Suppliers
  95. Identifying Key Internal Suppliers
  96. Integrating the Four Key Elements of Good Customer Service
  97. Enhancing the Customer/Supplier Matrix
  98. Voice Over IP, Part One — What VoIP Is, and Is Not
  99. Voice Over IP, Part Two — Benefits, Cost Savings and Features of VoIP
  100. Application Management
  101. Production Acceptance
  102. Distinguishing New Applications from New Versions of Existing Applications
  103. Assessing a Production Acceptance Process
  104. Effective Use of a Software Development Life Cycle
  105. The Role of Project Management in SDLC— Part 2
  106. Communication in Project Management – Part One: Barriers to Effective Communication
  107. Communication in Project Management – Part Two: Examples of Effective Communication
  108. Safeguarding Personal Information in the Workplace: A Case Study
  109. Combating the Year-end Budget Blitz—Part 1: Building a Manageable Schedule
  110. Combating the Year-end Budget Blitz—Part 2: Tracking and Reporting Availability
  111. References
  112. Developing an ITIL Feasibility Analysis
  113. Organization and Personnel Management
  114. Optimizing IT Organizational Structures
  115. Factors That Influence Restructuring Decisions
  116. Alternative Locations for the Help Desk
  117. Alternative Locations for Database Administration
  118. Alternative Locations for Network Operations
  119. Alternative Locations for Web Design
  120. Alternative Locations for Risk Management
  121. Alternative Locations for Systems Management
  122. Practical Tips To Retaining Key Personnel
  123. Benefits and Drawbacks of Using IT Consultants and Contractors
  124. Deciding Between the Use of Contractors versus Consultants
  125. Managing Employee Skill Sets and Skill Levels
  126. Assessing Skill Levels of Current Onboard Staff
  127. Recruiting Infrastructure Staff from the Outside
  128. Selecting the Most Qualified Candidate
  129. 7 Tips for Managing the Use of Mobile Devices
  130. Useful Websites for IT Managers
  131. References
  132. Automating Robust Processes
  133. Evaluating Process Documentation — Part One: Quality and Value
  134. Evaluating Process Documentation — Part Two: Benefits and Use of a Quality-Value Matrix
  135. When Should You Integrate or Segregate Service Desks?
  136. Five Instructive Ideas for Interviewing
  137. Eight Surefire Tips to Use When Being Interviewed
  138. 12 Helpful Hints To Make Meetings More Productive
  139. Eight Uncommon Tips To Improve Your Writing
  140. Ten Helpful Tips To Improve Fire Drills
  141. Sorting Out Today’s Various Training Options
  142. Business Ethics and Corporate Scandals – Part 1
  143. Business Ethics and Corporate Scandals – Part 2
  144. 12 Tips for More Effective Emails
  145. Management Communication: Back to the Basics, Part One
  146. Management Communication: Back to the Basics, Part Two
  147. Management Communication: Back to the Basics, Part Three
  148. Asset Management
  149. Managing Hardware Inventories
  150. Introduction to Hardware Inventories
  151. Processes To Manage Hardware Inventories
  152. Use of a Hardware Inventory Database
  153. References
  154. Managing Software Inventories
  155. Business Continuity Management
  156. Ten Lessons Learned from Real-Life Disasters
  157. Ten Lessons Learned From Real-Life Disasters, Part 2
  158. Differences Between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity , Part 1
  159. Differences Between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity , Part 2
  160. 15 Common Terms and Definitions of Business Continuity
  161. The Federal Government’s Role in Disaster Recovery
  162. The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 1
  163. The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 2
  164. The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 3
  165. The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 4
  166. Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 1
  167. Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 2
  168. Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 3
  169. Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 4
  170. The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part One
  171. The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part Two
  172. The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part Three
  173. The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part Four
  174. The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
  175. The Origins of ITIL
  176. The Foundation of ITIL: Service Management
  177. Five Reasons for Revising ITIL
  178. The Relationship of Service Delivery and Service Support to All of ITIL
  179. Ten Common Myths About Implementing ITIL, Part One
  180. Ten Common Myths About Implementing ITIL, Part Two
  181. Characteristics of ITIL Version 3
  182. Ten Benefits of itSMF and its IIL Pocket Guide
  183. Translating the Goals of the ITIL Service Delivery Processes
  184. Translating the Goals of the ITIL Service Support Processes
  185. Elements of ITIL Least Understood, Part One: Service Delivery Processes
  186. Case Study: Recovery Reactions to a Renegade Rodent
  187. Elements of ITIL Least Understood, Part Two: Service Support
  188. Case Studies
  189. Case Study — Preparing for Hurricane Charley
  190. Case Study — The Linux Decision
  191. Case Study — Production Acceptance at an Aerospace Firm
  192. Case Study — Production Acceptance at a Defense Contractor
  193. Case Study — Evaluating Mainframe Processes
  194. Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part One: Quantitative Comparisons/Natural Disasters
  195. Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part Two: Quantitative Comparisons/Man-made Disasters
  196. Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part Three: Qualitative Comparisons
  197. Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part Four: Take-Aways
  198. Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part One: Planning
  199. Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part Two: Planning and Walk-Through
  200. Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part Three: Execution
  201. Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part Four: Follow-Up
  202. Assessing the Robustness of a Vendor’s Data Center, Part One: Qualitative Measures
  203. Assessing the Robustness of a Vendor’s Data Center, Part Two: Quantitative Measures
  204. Case Study: Lessons Learned from a World-Wide Disaster Recovery Exercise, Part One: What Did the Team Do Well
  205. (d) Case Study: Lessons Learned from a World-Wide Disaster Recovery Exercise, Part Two

There are several methods available for recovering data that has been altered, deleted, damaged, or otherwise made inaccessible. The recovery techniques used depend on the manner in which the data was backed up. Table 1 lists four common types of data backups. The first three are referred to as physical backups because operating system software or specialized program products copy the data as it physically resides on the disk without regard to database structures or logical organization—it is purely a physical backup. The fourth is called a logical backup because database management software reads—or backs up—logical parts of the database, such as tables, schemas, data dictionaries, or indexes, and then writes the output to binary files. This may be done for the full database, for individual users, or for specific tables.

Physical offline backups require that all online systems, applications, and databases residing on a volume being backed up be shut down prior to starting the backup process. Performing several full volume backups of high-capacity disk drives may take many hours to complete and are normally done on weekends when systems can be shut down for long periods of time. Incremental backups also require systems and databases to be shut down, but for much shorter periods of time. Since only the data that has changed since the last backup is what is copied, incremental backups can usually be completed within a few hours if done on a nightly basis.

Table 1 Types of Data Backups

Type of Backup

Alternate Names

1. Physical full backup

Cold backup

Full volume backup

Full offline backup

2. Physical incremental backup

Incremental backup

Incremental offline backup

3. Physical online backup

Online backup

Hot backup

Archive backup

4. Logical backup

Exporting files

Exporting files into binary files

A physical online backup is a powerful backup technique that offers two very valuable and distinct benefits:

  1. Databases can remain open to users during the backup process.
  2. Recovery can be accomplished back to the last transaction processed.

The database environment must be running in an archive mode for online backups to occur properly. This means that fully filled log files, prior to being written over, are first written to an archive file. During online backups, table files are put into a backup state one at a time to enable the operating system to back up the data associated with it. Any changes made during the backup process are temporarily stored in logs files and then brought back to their normal state after that particular table file has been backed up.

Full recovery is accomplished by restoring the last full backup and the incremental backups taken since the last full backup and then doing a forward recovery utilizing the archive and log tapes. For Oracle databases, the logging is referred to as redo files; when these files are full, they are copied to archive files before being written over for continuous logging. Sybase, IBM's Database2 (DB2) and Microsoft's SQLSERVER have similar logging mechanisms using checkpoints and transaction logs. Log files can also be shipped or transported to other locations to aid in disaster recovery.

Replication is another form of backup in which highly critical data is copied in close to real time to a remote location. Replication intervals can vary from just a few minutes to several hours. I assisted three recent clients in implementing replication schemes that were similar in concept but different in application. One replicated its critical data between Los Angeles and Las Vegas every thirty minutes. Another replicated theirs every twenty minutes from coast to coast. The third company replicated their crucial data every fifteen minutes between Southern California and Denver. The point here is that replication schemes will vary depending on a company's requirements and the amount of costs they are willing to incur.

Logical backups are less complicated and more time consuming to perform than physical backups. There are three advantages to performing logical backups in concert with physical backups:

  1. Exports can be made online enabling 24/7 applications and databases to remain operational during the copying process.
  2. Small portions of a database can be exported and imported, efficiently enabling maintenance to be performed on only the data required.
  3. Exported data can be imported into databases or schemas at a higher version level than the original database, allowing for testing at new software levels.

Another approach to safeguarding data becoming more prevalent today is thedisk-to-disk backup. As the size of critical databases continues to grow, and as allowable backup windows continue to shrink, the advantages of this approach are rapidly helping to justify its obvious costs. The first advantage is the significant reduction in backup and recovery time. Copying directly to disk is orders of magnitude faster than copying to tape. This benefit also applies to online backups, which, while allowing databases to be open and accessible during backup processing, still incur a performance hit that is noticeably reduced by this method.

Another advantage of disk-to-disk backups is that the stored copy can be used for other purposes, such as testing or report generation which, if done with the original data, could impact database performance. Finally, this approach can actually cost justify tape backups. Copying the second stored disk files to tape can be scheduled at any time, provided it ends prior to the beginning of the next disk backup. It may even reduce investment in tape equipment, which can offset the costs of additional disks.

A thorough understanding of the requirements and the capabilities of data backups, restores, and recovery is necessary for implementing a robust storage management process. Several other backup considerations need to be kept in mind when designing such a process, and these are listed in Table 2.

1. Backup window

2. Restore times

3. Expiration dates

4. Retention periods

5. Recycle periods

6. Generation data groups

7. Offsite retrieval times

8. Tape density

9. Tape format

10. Tape packaging

11. Shelf life

12. Automation techniques

Table 2 Data Backup Considerations

There are three key questions that need to be answered at the outset:

  1. How much nightly backup window is available?
  2. How long will it take to perform nightly backups?
  3. Back to what point in time should recovery be made?

If the time needed to back up all the required data on a nightly basis exceeds the offline backup window, then some form of online backup will be necessary. The method of recovery that will be used will depend on whether data is to be restored back to the last incremental backup or back to the last transaction completed.

Expiration dates, retention periods, and recycling periods are related issues pertaining to the length of time data is intended to stay in existence. Weekly and monthly application jobs may create temporary data files that are designed to expire one week or one month, respectively, after the data was generated. Other files may need to be retained for several years for auditing purposes or for government regulations. Backup files on tape also fall into these categories. Expiration dates and retention periods are specified in the job control language that describes how these various files will be created. Recycle periods relate to the elapsed time before backup tapes are reused.

A generation data group (GDG) is a mainframe mechanism for creating new versions of a data file that would be similar to that created with backup jobs. The advantage of this is the ability to restore back to a specific day with simple parameter changes to the job control language. Offsite retrieval time is the maximum contracted time that the offsite tape storage provider is allowed to physically bring tapes to the data center from the time of notification.

Tape density, format, and packaging relate to characteristics that may change over time and consequently change recovery procedures. Density refers to the compression of bits as they are stored on the tape; it will increase as technology advances and equipment is upgraded. Format refers to the number and configuration of tracks on the tape. Packaging refers to the size and shape of the enclosures used to house the tapes.

The shelf life of magnetic tape is sometimes overlooked and can become problematic for tapes with retention periods exceeding five or six years. Temperature, humidity, handling, frequent changes in the environment, the quality of the tape, and other factors can influence the actual shelf life of any given tape, but five years is a good rule of thumb to use for recopying long-retained tapes.

Mechanical tape loaders, automated tape library systems, and movable tape rack systems can all add a degree of labor-saving automation to the storage management process. As with any process automation, thorough planning and process streamlining need to precede the implementation of the automation.

This concludes the four-part series on storage management. It covered the areas storage capacities, performance, reliability and recoverability. Other sections of this Management Guide that are related to storage management include those on Capacity Planning and Improving High Availability.

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