In most organizations, tape storage is either maintained centrally, using
backup software to assist in maintaining a record of what backups are on what tape, or by
a third-party that houses the tapes in an off-site storage location. Sometimes cataloging
and storing tape drives is done extremely efficiently. Sometimes it is not. As a DBA, you
must have a handle on how this is done, so you can effectively request the correct backup
tape and receive it in a timely manner in a disaster scenario.
CHAPTER 10 n HARDWARE CONSIDERATIONS 257
Archival Storage
In talking with colleagues, I often argue about the difference between true data archiving
and data partitioning. I see archiving as the removal of data from an active system, more
or less ???boxing??? the information for long-term storage (think of a warehouse full of file
cabinets with handwritten records). Data partitioning, in my opinion, is the moving aside
of soon to be archived data.
The idea behind partitioning is to separate seldom-used data from more active
records (usually for performance purposes) while ensuring that the data is still accessible
with no administrative intervention.
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