The Grandfather-Father-Son Tape Rotation System
Written on November 2, 2011 by admin
One of the most common and more secure tape rotation schedules employed today is the Grandfather-Father-Son (GFS) system, which utilizes multiple levels of records to guarantee that no loss of data will slow your business down for long. A great many businesses both big and small utilize variations of this system to protect data as diverse as income reciepts to massive internet logs, and it can be easily tailored to fit nearly any business situation. In general, it is probably the best balance between simplicity and efficiency on one side and security on the other.
The basics of the Grandfather-Father-Son (GFS) tape rotation schedule are fairly simple. The business in question makes a full backup of their data each evening throughout the month. However, the disks used each day vary by the day and week. 4 disks are reused every Monday through Thursday to keep daily backups that change from week to week. These are the ‘Son’ disks and are usually stored on site. 4 more ‘Father’ disks are used only on Friday evenings, offering the weekly backup that is stored at a secure offsite location. An additional 12 ‘Grandfather’ disks are each used one per month to provide a monthly data backup, also stored offsite. Some variations also choose to permanently archive the last Grandfather disk of the year to provide a yearly record of the information system.
The system is rather simple given the inter-working levels of security, and also fairly inexpensive. It does, however, require approximately 20 data tapes to be rotated (which should be replaced at least each year, if not more often), and also requires offsite storage of the long term backups to defend against environmental damage and serious disasters such as a fire. There are rotation systems that utilize fewer tapes, particularly the complex ‘Tower of Hanoi’ configuration, and other systems that use less tapes but also provide a shorter backup period, such as the risky entry level ‘Round Robin’. Yes the GFS system remains one of the most popular and most secure configurations that a business can use, regardless of the size or scope of the company.
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