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I think I can weigh in on both sides here--I am not only the librarian, but also the network administrator, so it is my job to do the backups of the server. I can guarantee that my data is backed up! My backups are good--I check them periodically. And I have had to restore from tape more than once. Redundancy is critical here. More than one backup should hopefully ensure that you'll never have to use any of them! A quick recap here--most of these issues have been addressed, though not all in one place. Tony Doyle had many excellent suggestions. Back the server to tape or other media (perhaps you have a raid system--too techy to get into here). Back the server nightly--after any system backups are made. Winnebago Spectrum has its own backup that runs nightly. Rotate the tapes or media. Periodically replace the tapes or media. Check the backups to be sure they are good. Store a backup off-site--if the school burns or blows away, you'll still have a copy of the database. Rotate this off-site backup as well. Back your library database from the server onto a local hard drive or other media. (This is your redundancy). Replace servers regularly. (I've heard the term of every 3 years--it depends on the use). I keep a set of tapes at home since I live over 5 miles from the school building. If I lived within a block or two, I'd send the tapes with someone else--I want no chance that the same tornado can get the school and my house. I run the nightly Spectrum backup, then backup to tape. Occasionally I back up to my hard drive on my workstation. Similarly, I keep a copy of my files on the server as well as on my local hard drive. And then occasionally I burn those files to a CD. Now that we have 2 servers on our network, I copy the library data onto the other server as well. Our servers also have mirrored drives, so if one drive goes, the other has all the data. Perhaps this seems a bit paranoid, but just the thought of losing all of our data is really scary. Hard drives will fail. Servers will crash. Server hard drives will fail. The only question is when. Anne C. Oelke Library Media Specialist Cambria-Friesland School District Cambria, WI. US 53923 mailto:anne@oelke.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. LM_NET Help & Information: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ Archive: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml LM_NET Select/EL-Announce: http://www.cuenet.com/archive/el-announce/ LM_NET Supporters: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ven.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-