Implementing Backup and Recovery: The Readiness Guide for the Enterprise

This is the other good computer system backup book. The first one I normally talk about is “UNIX Backup and Recovery” by W. Curtis Preston. But where as that book is written from a core UNIX world-view, this book is written from a Veritas Netbackup view of the world. Netbackup is one of the serious BIG THREE computer backup software packages on the market today, the others being IBM Tivoli Storage Manager and Legato Networker. There are other software packages out there for backing up lots of computers, but I wouldn’t call them serious… not matter how large of market share they may have.

This book, coming from the Veritas worldview is a good addition to the small, but growing, computer backup book market. It is good to see all the general backup principles laid down in writing and then discussed in relation to Veritas Netbackup.

Myself, I am an expert with IBM Tivoli Storage Manger (ITSM/TSM/ADSM) and find the discussion of Veritas Netbackup good to know about. I have had fancy titles in the past, but the usually boil down to meaning “backup boy”.

The principles this book sets up for the reader are the time-tested methods of computer system backup and disaster recovery. Many people would be amazed by the fact that even after 9/11 many large businesses and organizations are still not taking the principles behind disaster recovery preparedness seriously. Books like this one will help “backup boys” who need to perform the tasks of protecting large-scale computer systems.
Rating: 5 / 5

If you are setting up a new backup and recovery environment, or if you are maintaining an existing strategy, this book is a must read. Not only does it walk you through backup and recovery process from start to finish, it helps you to understand that there is more required to backup – and especially recovery – than simply performing daily backups.
Rating: 5 / 5

The authors, Little and Chapa, have taken their deep knowledge of the backup space and applied it using the VERITAS NetBackup product. This should be viewed as the definitive guide to anyone implementing NetBackup or any other backup product. Many of the concepts transcend NetBackup and can be applied in general.

Chapter 10 does a nice job of exploring the future of backup approaches, offering insight into what we might expect to see in the coming years. As important, this book provides two appendices covering “Disaster Recovering Planning” (Appendix D) and “Business Impact Analysis” (Appendix E) which could pay for the book in their own right.

This book should be a requirement for any organization which utilizes or is considering the use of NetBackup.
Rating: 5 / 5

This book is a must have for the person doing backup and recovery in an enterprise environment. It cuts through all the chase and gets right to the point. A great book for the novice or expert!!!! I’ve been working in the backup and recovery areana for over 7 years and this book already has some worn out pages.
Rating: 5 / 5

I don’t know how many more books like this I can read. Except for the examples, its very high level. At least half the book is allocated to middle management-esque writing regarding how the best way to manage “enterprize systems.” There is some good information here, but it seems a little too Politically Correct to my tastes. I have not seen a data center that actually operates as the book describes. Also, the author has a relationship with Veritas, so how many of Vertitas’ shortcomings can we expect from a book like this? The entire manuscript would have to have passed through Veritas’ legal and PR department before getting anywhere near the publisher. So much for getting the real story. As far as alternatives, if the reader is looking for corporate/unix information, Unix Backup and Recovery for UNIX is the way to go. For PC users, you can’t beat How to Backup Your Windows Computer. Really, there are very few titles in this area.
Rating: 2 / 5