Difference between data backup and data archive

Last week we have been invited by our customer for a discussion about backup technologies. During that meeting, various topics on backup has been discussed. Finally discussion became debate on  Backup and Archive methods and their differences. We would like to highlight some of the key points of the discussion we had.
First we would understand the term Backup and Archive and you should be able to figure out their

differences on your own.In earlier days, Backup was considered as the restore point if data is deleted or overwritten. Usually backup was taken on low cost non-volatile media and which commonly runs on low cost drives. The scenario has changed now. People are moving towards storage arrays for their backup purpose primarily to reduce restore time. That means Backups started playing a key role in the IT industry now a days.

In past few years, technology has evolved like anything and major changes has happened on backup media, speed,media size and backup hardware.

Considering all these aspects, Backups can be defined as follows,

"Backups are defined as copy of the data which can be used to restore  the original form in the event of data corruption or even when data is deleted or inaccessible. Basically a mechanism to safe guard the data which is being used."

The focus is primarily on speed and data integrity. Backup does not distinguish active and non-active data. It basically takes the data copies based on the schedule you define- Daily, weekly or Monthly according to your convenience. Customer can decide which technology or hardware they need to use by analyzing the critical nature of the data-either storage backup or tape backup. If you need swift recovery, use Storage arrays for your backup need as disk can access data in parallel compared to traditional tape based backup. Many virtual tape systems are available now on a reasonable price.

Now a days, for banking sector and medical field it is more important to keep their historical data for auditing purposes. This is becoming mandatory to complete ISO certifications. This historical data basically pointing towards an archival solution.

An archive can be defined as follows,

"Archive is a collection of data objects or files specifically selected for long term retention and future reference. Basically refers to the data which is no longer actively used, no longer changing or shouldn't be changing."

Normally, for archive solutions, we will be considering low cost storage devices for which speed is not a factor but reliability is a concern. now a days multiple vendors are coming with different devices for archival needs. when you run an archive, the data will be moved from the source leaving the object index at the source and the space will be freed-up at source.

In short, though the name sounds similar, Backup and Archive serves different purpose. The primary factors which servers as the deciding factor are, Speed, cost and recovery time.

if you have a different thought, you can share your views in comment section.