Backup Files

Backup files are those files which are retained, often on high capacity tape or separate disk sub-system, which represent the organisation's protection against loss, damage or non-availability of the data held on information systems.

Whilst it is important to have available the most recent few backups - to enable restore in case of need - it is also crucial that recent backup tapes / disks are stored safely off-site; sufficiently far away to reduce the risk of environmental damage (e.g. flood) destroying both the primary systems and the off site backups.