10 tips to faster backups

Storage Networking World - There isn't a wizard behind a curtain that will help speed your backups, but there is a formula for successfully cutting backup and recovery time. By following 10 simple tips, backup managers can heal many of their storage headaches.
Bottlenecks to successful backups appear throughout the storage landscape. Source disks, small files, the backup server, backup software — these and other areas are where backups can slow to a standstill and impact backup speed.
Let's look at some individual tips for achieving faster backups:
1. Use virtual tape technology to achieve faster backups without file system overhead.
You can maintain data on easily accessible virtual tapes by using a disk-based virtual tape, dynamic virtual tape or virtual tape library device as the primary target of the backup process. Virtual tapes typically allow users to employ their physical tapes more efficiently. Additionally, when file systems on "ordinary disks" are used for backup over long periods of time, the constant writing, expiring and re-writing results in file system fragmentation that causes performance to deteriorate. Virtual tapes created directly from the logical volume management system do not use a file system, so file system fragmentation is minimized or eliminated.
2. Use a fast, exclusive connection between the backup server and the backup storage target.
The faster the data moves from the backup server to the backup storage device, the faster the backup will be. iSCSI (using GigE) and Fibre Channel are ideal connections between backup servers and their storage. All you need to do is pop in a new card on the storage device and configure the system to work with the exclusive connection.
3. Remove backup network/LAN bottlenecks.
Some companies use the same network for backups as they do for e-mail, file, print and other business applications. Because today's business users tend to work around the clock, this results in network congestion, and eliminates night-time backup as an option. Backing up over the corporate network impacts everyone's performance — including users' e-mail or Internet access.
A separate network for backup is relatively inexpensive. You can easily set up a dedicated GigE backup network and install a new network card in application servers, buying up to 10 times as much performance, improving efficiency and reducing elapsed time, while minimizing complaints from late-night workers whose systems were affected by the backup load over the corporate network.
4. Reconfigure backup jobs to run in parallel rather than serially.
Many people sequentially back up their servers. They back up server 1, then back up server 2,

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