Part II: Why backups fail and what to do next

We’ve been taking a look at the many ways a backup can fail and what you can do about it. So far, human error and the failures of hardware, media, and file management have been discussed as common reasons for backup failures. Take a look at other common sources of backup failures and what you can do to salvage your data:

Software failure

woman at computerSoftware failure happens when you’re using software that is out of date, or your software was rather complicated to configure. One wrong option selection and you could be dealing with a failed backup. Your problem could be new software that isn’t compatible. You may also find that your software needed more configuration as your information or resources changed. However, this shouldn’t be confused with the specific software you can use to recover data lost after software failure.

Not enough resources

If your backup fails, your server could have simply reached its limit. If you have a large amount of information to restore, your data could be lost or damaged if you do not have enough server resources to perform the backup. If your data is vast and valuable, it’s worth making sure that you have enough resources to restore this precious information.

On site problems

Data storage and recovery faces the same issues that any other stored equipment sees—physical problems on site. This could mean things out of your control like fire, theft, or a power outage. Someone without knowledge of how equipment should be kept could manipulate your storage environment far from optimal. These are often mixed with human error, such as losing or damaging equipment while moving to a different space.

Network failure

Many backups are performed over a network, but it also opens up a whole new opportunity for failure—most technical occupations are very familiar with network failure, not to mention all the people at home right now frustrated with their connections. The advantage of backing up over a network means you’ll be using fewer devices, meaning a decreased chance of hardware, media, and human error. Like other backup failure causes, the source of a network failure can be easy to miss at first. A single misconfigured switch can mean the difference between recovered data and no usable data.

What happens next? Well, there are a number of backup strategies when backups themselves fail, but one of the most reliable recovery strategies is using advanced recovery software. There are many powerful products available for a variety of file types, including mdf repair and pst repair. Whether you are trying to recover many database files or a few key Excel files, DataNumen has the right software to save your valuable data. This software makes it easy to scan the files you need to recover lost files or repair corrupted files.

 

Alan Chen is President and Chairman of DataNumen, Inc., leading in data recovery technologies worldwide. For more information on any of our products, including our Outlook repair programs, visit DataNumen.

 

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