Backing up and restoring data

Backing up

Backing up means to make a copy of the data held on the system in case the original data is lost
or damaged.

Backups can be made onto removable media such as CDs, magnetic tape, removable hard disks,
a local server in a local network or an internet based server and then stored away from the PC.
Online storage or cloud storage is accessed via internet and is not shown in your directory
structure. As online storage is accessed via the internet, issues of confidentiality and security
must be considered.

This is useful if there were to be a fire/flood, if the PC were to be stolen or in the event of a hard
disk failure. The original data files could then be restored. Backups can also be made to a
different drive or file on the hard disk.

Types of back up

You can make full backups, differential backups or incremental backups.

1. Full backups: this is a backup where a new copy of every file and folder you’ve specified
is created. This method offers the 'ultimate' protection against data loss as any of the
tapes can provide the ability to restore the system very quickly at any point in time.

This is probably not the most efficient back-up strategy because if files haven't been changed
then you will be copying the same files that you did yesterday and the week before, even the
month before. Removable storage media has a cost both in terms of the actual device e.g. tape
and also in terms of space in storing all of those back-ups.

Also, as organizations grow larger and more users store data on the network, it may take a longer
period to make a back-up and it is possible that backing up might run into the time when the
network is being used again.

A further concern is from a security aspect. Every tape contains a complete copy of the
organization’s data and if the tape were stolen then the thief would have access to all of the
company data.

2. Differential backups: is a type of data backup that preserves data, saving only the
difference in the data since the last full backup. The rationale in this is that since changes
to data are generally few compared to the entire amount of data in repository, the
amount of time required will be smaller than if a full backup was performed each time
that the organization or data owner wishes to backup changes since the last full backup.

3. Incremental backups: is one in which successive copies of data contain only the
portion that has changed since the preceding backup copy was made. For example, if a
full backup was performed on Monday, Tuesdays incremental will back
 4. up all changed files since Mondays backup. However Wednesdays incremental will only
backup files that have changed since Tuesday’s incremental backup and so on. When a
full recovery is needed, the restoration process would need the last full backup plus all
the incremental backups. Incremental backups are often desirable as they reduce storage
space and are quicker to perform than differential backups.

However, if the system should need to be restored it would take much longer than restoring from
a full back-up. For example, if you took a full backup at the beginning of the month and the
system crashed halfway through the month then you would need to restore the system from the
full back-up made two weeks ago and then also use the other daily incremental backup tapes
made each following day.

Backup utilities

Backup utilities enable users to make copies of certain files or entire hard disk to another disk or
other storage medium. Most backup utilities compress the backup files to save space. When the
backup files need to be restored, they are uncompressed- returned to their original state.

You can also archive your files. An archive is a collection of May files that have been packaged
together for backup, so that they can be transported away from the computer to another location.
The process is easy to complete using a wizard. A wizard software or setup assistant is a user
interface with a sequence of dialog boxes that lead the user through a series of well defined steps.

Maintenance utilities

These include:

 Backup - This allows the user to restore the system to a previous state which is saved as
a backup. This is only usually used if a system malfunctions.
 Disk cleaner - The storage drive is divided into a number of clusters. The table of
contents serves as an address book, keeping a record of each file and the clusters used to
store that file. When a file is deleted, the address to the location on the disk is removed.
 Disk defragmentation - When files are deleted, unused clusters become available for
reuse. These can end up being distributed across a drive, especially if the original files
were small. If a large file is then written to a drive, its data could be spread across
different clusters leading to file fragmentation. Defragmentation involves rearranging the
information on a disk so that files appear in continuous sequences of clusters. This will
improve file access times. Most modern operating systems run this process automatically.
 Formatting - Storage drives need to be formatted to be compatible with an OS. The OS
usually formats storage media when it is connected to the computer. It is often the case
that a storage drive cannot be compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X.

Security utilities

These include:
  user accounts - allow the user to allocate specific users and protects personal files and
programs from unauthorised access.
 encryption - can encrypt data when it is stored, or whenever it is transmitted over a
network.
 anti-virus software - detects and blocks viruses.
 firewall - can be used to filter between trusted and untrusted networks and prevent
programs from communicating through the use of ports.

Restoring data

Data restore is the process of copying backup data from secondary storage and
restoring it to its original location or a new location. The computer usually creates
restore points after data is backed up. A restore point is a snapshot of your computer
settings. Restore points are essentially backups of the windows registry. Restore points
are set automatically when you install a new software. You can also set restore points
manually.

File management and peripheral device control

File systems

The OS organises files on the storage drive.

In order to retrieve data from a file, the computer needs to know:

 which storage device it is held on

 where it is stored on the device
 how files are organised on the device
 how much data is in it
 the protocol needed to communicate with it

It is the job of the OS to maintain this information for other programs, and it does this by
providing a file system. The purpose of a file system is to provide programs with a uniform way
of storing and retrieving data

File management

The OS manages how data is organised into files. This makes it easier for the user to see files
using programs like the Windows File Explorer or Mac OS X Finder. The OS organises where
and how files are stored, deleted, read, found and repaired. It detects errors such as missing disks
or incorrect file names, and informs the user that errors have occurred.

Each file has a unique name and the OS maintains a set of look-up tables that relate file names to
locations on storage drives.
File types

Applications create files that have very specific format, which is indicated by the file extension is
the three to four characters after the dot at the end of the filename, eg notes.doc. it is very
important that you don’t change a file extension because the extension links the file to the
application that created it. When a file extension is changed, it cannot be recognised by the
application and may not open or might become corrupted if opened in the wrong application.

File properties

When you right click on the file and select properties to view the properties of a file. The general
tab indicates file properties, such as the type of file, the program the file opens with, location, the
size of the file, the size of the file on disk, dates it was created, modified and accessed. You can
enter summary details that describe a file, such as the author of the document, version or revision
number and company or manger on the details tab. Theses settings are valuable for version
control and tracking the origins of the document when several people work on the same
document. You can also obtain a summary of the file contents, such as the number of words, the
number of lines and the file size. The detailed properties of a file are also known as metadata.

File attributes

The file attributes indicate whether a file is read-only, hidden, ready for archiving(backing up),
compressed, or encrypted and whether the file contents should be indexed for fast file searching.

Peripheral devices

Protocols

Each peripheral is programmed with its own machine code. Each has its own rules that dictate
how it transmits data values between the computer and the device. These rules make up a
protocol for controlling and communicating with the device.

Drivers

The OS uses programs called device drivers to manage connections with peripherals.

A device driver:

 handles the translation of requests between a device and the computer

 defines where a process must put outgoing data before it can be sent, and where incoming
messages will be stored when they are received
 wakes up the device when it is needed and put it back to sleep when it is not
 An OS will have generic device drivers to enable it to connect to most common
peripherals. Some peripherals, however, will have their own drivers that need to be
installed before use.
 Peripherals that use the same protocol may be controlled by the same driver. If a number
of identical game controllers are plugged in, each device will store its data in a different
place so they do not interfere with each other.