Backup versus Archive Storage – What’s the Difference?
The terms archive and backup are familiar to most people by now as ways of making duplicate copies of data and keeping them protected from threats. But many still do not know that these two storage methods are quite different. Archiving and backup should both be regarded as critical components of any company operations and assets, and both should be incorporated into every organization’s data management strategy. To put the right resources in place for any particular situation, it is important to thoroughly understand the differences between the two methods.
What Is a Backup?
A backup is a duplicate copy of your current data, both active and inactive, that you can use for restoration and recovery in case the original gets lost or damaged. When you create a backup, the original data is not deleted or changed. The backup is usually stored in a separate physical location or in the same location but on a different medium.
What is the Purpose of a Backup?
The sole purpose of a backup is to be able to restore data in case of any unexpected event that causes it to get lost or damaged. Backups are necessary for accurately restoring data and for getting the system back into regular operation with minimal downtime. Data is backed up on a regular basis either daily, monthly, or weekly, and in some cases even hourly. As such, a dependable backup system allows you to recover from any data loss event quickly.
What Is an Archive?
Data archiving is the process of storing infrequently used data for long-term periods. An archive is a protected master copy of your data that you can retrieve in the future when requested. Oftentimes, the original data is deleted after the archive has been created, although this is not really required. The archive can be a secure alternate storage space where all your data is kept in a highly organized system such that it can easily be found and retrieved whenever necessary.
What Is the Purpose of an Archive?
Unlike a backup that is just created to get things back to their original state or to establish a restore point, an archive has several purposes.
- Preserving, finding and retrieving of files that are infrequently accessed
- Making a master copy of the data for long-term data retention
- Protecting digital files and assets from being tampered or manipulated
It is one of the stages in data lifecycle management practice that helps to form the file-level policies and guidelines that allow businesses to prepare for devastating consequences should an organization experience data breaches, data loss, or system failure.
For instance, blueprints of buildings need to be archived so that you can easily retrieve them in case the structure has to be renovated in the future. Or you might simply be retrieving the contents of a database. Computer artists need to create a master copy of their digital asset files so that these can be reused for new or future projects.
When archived, digital assets, artworks, and movies are preserved from deterioration and can retain their original value over time. Law enforcement also practices data archiving so that any evidence such as video surveillance, photos, or audio are protected from being tampered with, thus maintaining the authenticity of the records. Scientific researchers also retain their historical data sets continuously over time such that they can be reused and analyzed for further study.
For corporate purposes, archives are usually created for legal compliance, for the fulfillment of information retention obligations and to guarantee that data is available when needed. Businesses are required by law to retain certain information for a very long period, the exact details of which depend on the industry and the location. Medical practitioners, for instance, are required to keep patients’ records, sometimes for up to 10 years after the last treatment. For banks, it is mandatory to keep transaction records for at least 5 years, and so on.
There are usually not a lot of urgencies when accessing an archive, so the speed is not a top priority, although it is also favorable. However, it is very important to maintain data integrity in an archive because the data in it usually must be stored for a very long time. There also must be an organized system of metadata to make data retrieval efficient.
Comparison Chart
Backup | Archive |
Focus is on restoring data at the last point of failure | Focus is on indexing, searching, and retrieving files that have been determined to be archived |
Temporary and short-term data storage for fast system recoveries | Permanent data storage for long term data retention |
Typically used for fast large-scale recoveries that protect entire systems, applications, OS files, and data objects. | Typically used for individual data files, objects, databases, and metadata. |
Process of copying actively used data to another location or medium | Process of securely storing a master copy of infrequently accessed data to another location or medium |
Recovery speed is important | Speed of access is not as important as its function to preserve |
Backup data must maintain the latest version of the data that changes frequently | Archived data preserves data that does not change. |
Backups are temporary and can be deleted or replaced when no longer relevant. | Archives are permanent and used to retain inactive data for extended periods of time. It is destroyed when it is no longer valuable. |
Tape, hard drives or hot cloud | Optical archives or cold cloud |
Any data that you want to have a copy or restore in case it gets damaged or lost. | High value data for long-term storage, legal compliance, and authenticity |
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are many similarities between backups and archives but there are also several major differences in terms of how the data is stored and their main goals. Understanding the differences between these two data storage methods is crucial in choosing the storage technology to use, and in knowing how to design applications and solutions to safeguard your company’s assets and budgets.