Ensuring Data Integrity

As a system administrator, it’s not enough to automate alerts so that no log entry goes unnoticed, or to analyze current system utilization and shore up the network’s defenses against unauthorized activity. You also need to attend carefully to the data that lives on each device. In Mac OS X, data integrity has been attended to as on other systems, but the OS also has unique aspects, such as metadata attached to files, that demand attention.

Determining Backup Strategies

Unfortunately, many technologists approach backup from the wrong angle: technology. All decisions about backup should start with, and be informed by, a backup policy.

Most importantly, a backup policy should be created in conjunction with, and signed off by, senior management. Without high-level buy-in, backup will not serve the business properly. A backup policy does not need to be a lengthy document, but it does motivate all parties involved to think through all of the issues.

The goal of backup is to prevent data loss. Once data is backed up, there are typically three reasons to restore it: A deleted or corrupt file needs to be restored, a crashed or deleted volume needs to be restored, or the business needs certain files restored from a point in time for legal reasons.