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Dan Sullivan
Achieving Continous Data
Protection with a Recycle
Bin for File Servers
The Essentials Series
The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

i
Aiticle 1: Stieamlining File Recoveiy 0peiations while Reuucing IT Woikloau ......................... 1
Incieasing Bemanus on IT 0peiations Staff ............................................................................................ 1
Stieamlining with Self-Seivice ................................................................................................................. 2
Stieamlining by Reuucing Bepenuencies on Time-Consuming Tasks .................................... 2
File Recoveiy Can Be a Self-Seivice 0peiation ....................................................................................... 4
Summaiy ................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Aiticle 2: Limits of the Winuows Recycle Bin: Impioving File Recoveiy 0ptions ....................... S
Winuows Recycle Bin Limitations ............................................................................................................... S
Limitation 1: Local Files .............................................................................................................................. S
Limitation 2: Beleting fiom the Commanu Line ............................................................................... S
Limitation S: Application Beleteu Files ................................................................................................ 6
Limitation 4: Inteimeuiate veisions of Files ...................................................................................... 6
Beyonu the Recycle Bin: 0ptions foi Bata Piotection anu File Recoveiy ................................... 7
Restoiing fiom Backups .............................................................................................................................. 7
Restoiing fiom Snapshots .......................................................................................................................... 8
Recoveiing fiom Thiiu-Paity File Recoveiy Applications ........................................................... 8
Summaiy ................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Aiticle S: Continuous Enu 0sei Bata Piotection ........................................................................................ 9
Limits of Backups anu Snapshots ............................................................................................................... 11
State of the Ait Enu 0sei Continuous Bata Piotection ..................................................................... 12
Summaiy ............................................................................................................................................................... 12

The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

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The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

1
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Piotecting uata is a funuamental iesponsibility foi IT opeiations suppoit staff. This task is
not easy. Baiuwaie fails anu uata is lost oi coiiupteu. Secuiity bieaches can iesult in
tampeiing anu uata leaks. Employees can acciuently uelete files. This guiue uiscusses how
to impiove the ways you piotect uata, paiticulaily foi enu useis who access anu
inauveitently uelete oi oveiwiite files on netwoik shaieu uiives. This guiue intiouuces the
concept of a file seivei iecycle bin to enable continuous uata piotection anu self-seivice
iecoveiy, fieeing IT fiom help uesk calls to iestoie lost files.
This guiue is oiganizeu into thiee sections, each coveiing an essential element of
continuous uata piotection:
Automating self-seivice file iecoveiy options on file seiveis
Resolving the netwoik limits of the Winuows Recycle Bin
Implementing continuous enu usei uata piotection on file seiveis
Winuows featuies on the PC, such as the Recycle Bin, aie impoitant to uata piotection, but
they aie not sufficient to pioviue continuous uata piotection oi piotection foi netwoik
files. As a iesult, IT auministiatois lose piecious time fieluing lost file iequests anu uigging
thiough backups. Foitunately, thiiu-paity tools exist to fill these gaps. Befoie uelving into
the uetails, it is impoitant to unueistanu uata iecoveiy in the bioauei context of IT
opeiations anu suppoit.
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It is haiu to imagine an IT suppoit gioup with too much time on theii hanus. The
combination of changing business uemanus anu the continuing neeu to monitoi anu
maintain existing infiastiuctuie can geneiate uemanus on IT staff fastei than they can be
auuiesseu. This pioblem is not new.

The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

2
0seis have always neeueu suppoit. Naiket conuitions anu business opeiations aie
constantly changing, so C-level executives aie mapping out new stiategies that often entail
an IT component. IT suppoit piofessionals anu systems auministiatois have uone theii
pait to stieamline these opeiations. The uays when IT suppoit staff weie ioutinely
inteiiupteu with phone calls asking foi suppoit have given way, at least in some
oiganizations, to help uesk suppoit systems that allow useis to submit theii own suppoit
iequests. Rathei than wait foi an auveise event, such as iunning out of uisk space oi having
an application attackeu, systems auministiatois automate system health checks anu iun
vulneiability scans to spot potential pioblems befoie they uisiupt opeiations. Both the
shift to help uesk suppoit systems anu the use of automation have helpeu impiove the
efficiency of IT opeiations but still moie can be uone. Two ways at oui uisposal to ieuuce
IT woikloau aie implementing self-seivice pioceuuies anu ieuucing uepenuencies on time-
consuming pioceuuies.
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The use of self-seivice in IT suppoit is well establisheu. 0seis can ieset theii own
passwoius in many applications. The Web has become a piimaiy iesouice foi answeiing
"how to" questions with common uesktop applications. 0seis who aie familiai with the
Winuows Recycle Bin can iecovei some of theii own ueleteu files. (But not all ueleteu files,
as we will uiscuss in uetail in the next aiticle). You can extenu the ieach of self-seivice to
incluue moie extensive file iecoveiy. The ability to self-iecovei files is paiticulaily
impoitant foi two ieasons: This task is common anu the iecoveiy piocess is time
consuming anu often iequiies the help of IT suppoit staff.
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By ieuucing uepenuencies on time-consuming tasks, you leave IT suppoit staff with moie
time foi othei opeiations. To be suie, iecoveiing lost files is impoitant anu can be well
woith the time investeu. Imagine if the final veision of a sales pioposal is acciuentally
ueleteu a shoit time befoie it is to be ueliveieu to a client. The value of potentially lost
business coulu easily exceeu the time investeu by IT suppoit staff to iecovei that file fiom
backupassuming the latest veision existeu when the last backup was iun. Not all file
iecoveiy opeiations will be as valuable as the lost pioposal scenaiio, but lost files aie
impoitant to the employees that lose them.
The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

S

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When files cannot be iecoveieu fiom a usei's Recycle Bin, file owneis tuin to IT suppoit
staff to iecovei the file fiom backups. This piocess can be time consuming foi all involveu
because the steps can incluue:
The employee contacting the help uesk to ask foi a file to be iestoieu
The help uesk peisonnel collecting enough infoimation to piecisely iuentify the file
anu veision of the file to iestoie
The help uesk peisonnel neeuing to ensuie that the peison iequesting the iestoieu
file actually has peimission to access the file
The help uesk peisonnel finuing time to peifoim the iestoiation opeiation
The help uesk ueteimining fiom what backup souice to iecovei the file(s)
The employee having to veiify the coiiect veision of the file was actually iestoieu
The actual sequence of events may be even moie complicateu. Foi example, if a numbei of
files weie acciuentally ueleteu, then they may neeu to be iestoieu fiom multiple
inciemental backups. The latest file may be iestoieu befoie the usei iealizes the latest
veision of the file was not backeu up anu the usei still has seveial houis of woik aheau of
him to iepiouuce his lost woik. To avoiu uelays in iestoiing files, to mitigate the iisk of lost
woik, anu to ieuuce the woikloau on IT suppoit staff, you can tuin to self-seivice tools foi
file iecoveiy.
The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

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Nany useis aie accustomeu to checking the Recycle Bin foi acciuentally ueleteu files. What
many of them may not know is that the Recycle Bin uoes not always captuie ueleteu files.
Foi example, the Recycle Bin uoes not captuie files ueleteu fiom file seiveis oi netwoik
uiives. Those files aie not available foi iecoveiy fiom the Recycle Bin, so IT inteivention is
iequiieu.
Also, pievious veisions of Niciosoft 0ffice files aie not copieu to the Recycle Bin anu
theiefoie cannot be self-iecoveieu fiom the Recycle Bin. It is possible foi these pievious
veisions of a file to be captuieu in a backup oi snapshot opeiation, if the file was piesent at
the time the opeiation took place, in which case a systems auministiatoi coulu help iestoie
the file.
Thiiu-paity tools can help fill the gaps in the Winuows Recycle Bin functionality. Thiiu-
paity tools allow systems auministiatois oi the useis they suppoit to iecovei files fiom a
iepositoiy of saveu veisions of uocuments. These thiiu-paity tools opeiate like the Recycle
Bin in the sense that they pieseive a copy of a ueleteu file anu enable iecoveiy, but unlike
the Recycle Bin, they pioviue this captuie functionality moie bioauly.
As with any self-seivice IT suppoit tool, you have to consiuei the neeu foi secuiity. A thiiu-
paity tool that enhances file iecoveiy seivices must be able to suppoit access contiols
compaiable to those in place on the file system. Foi example, if a managei ueleteu a file
nameu Salaiy_Piojections.xlsx fiom a netwoik shaie, it woulu be captuieu by the thiiu-
paity tool anu stoieu in the ueleteu file iepositoiy. 0nly the managei, oi otheis who have
been gianteu access to the file at the 0S level, shoulu be able to iecovei that file. A cuiious
employee fiom the managei's uepaitment who uoes not have access to the uocument on
the netwoik shaie shoulu not have access to it in the ueleteu uocument iepositoiy.
Thiiu-paity tools shoulu iueally suppoit two moues of iecoveiy: systems auministiatoi-
baseu iecoveiy anu self-seivice iecoveiy. Auministiatoi-baseu iecoveiy is appiopiiate
when uealing with sensitive infoimation oi oiganization policies that iequiie a systems
auministiatoi to peifoim iecoveiy opeiations. Self-seivice iecoveiy is appiopiiate when
the iecoveiy system maintains Winuows File Secuiity. Self-seivice iecoveiy can help
stieamline IT opeiations anu ieuuce the woikloau on IT staff.
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File iecoveiy can be time consuming foi IT suppoit staff anu fiustiatingly slow foi useis.
The Winuows Recycle Bin is useful foi iecoveiing many, but not all, acciuentally ueleteu
files. The iueal thiiu-paity tool pioviues a bioauei iange of featuies anu abilities to captuie
ueleteu files fiom netwoik shaies as well as pievious veisions of files. When access
contiols within the file iecoveiy application miiioi the access contiols of the unueilying
Winuows 0S, systems auministiatois can enable self-seivice iecoveiy while still piotecting
the confiuentiality anu integiity of useis' files.

The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

S
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The Winuows Recycle Bin is a well-known pait of the Winuows file system foi the PC. Foi
many of us, it has helpeu iecovei files that shoulu not have been ueleteu in the fiist place.
We aie bettei off with the Recycle Bin than without it. Bowevei, as much as we appieciate
the Winuows Recycle Bin, we have to aumit theie aie some significant limitations.
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The Winuows Recycle Bin is uesigneu to woik with local files that aie ueleteu thiough the
Winuows Exploiei. This uesign is unueistanuable. Winuows Exploiei is the piimaiy
inteiface to the Winuows 0S. 0nless you aie a piofessional piogiammei oi systems
auministiatoi with a paiticulai knack foi the commanu line, you piobably spenu most of
youi time inteiacting with the Winuows 0S thiough Winuows Exploiei oi thiough an
application such as Niciosoft Woiu.
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The fact that the Winuows Recycle Bin is so closely linkeu to local files anu Winuows
Exploiei has become moie of a pioblem foi file iecoveiy. We have changeu the way we
woik with oui uevices anu netwoik them. Bevices uepenu on shaieu netwoik iesouices
such as centializeu stoiage systems. Rathei than pioviue eveiy uesktop anu laptop with
haiu uiives laige enough to meet peak uemanu capacity, you can configuie uevices with
moueiate-size local stoiage along with shaieu access to netwoik stoiage. This methou is a
moie cost effective anu efficient way to manage stoiage.
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Commanu line inteifaces pieceueu giaphical usei inteifaces (u0Is). Systems
auministiatois anu uevelopeis who woik with commanu lines can become pioficient in
manipulating systems anu applications with the commanu line. In some cases, it may be
moie efficient to execute a commanu fiom the commanu line than fiom the u0I. In othei
cases, you might neeu to peifoim a seiies of steps anu the best solution is to use a batch
sciipt with all the commanus. Woiking with the commanu line can be moie efficient foi
many tasks, but you lose the ability to iecovei ueleteu files fiom the Winuows Recycle Bin
when you tuin to the commanu line.

The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

6
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In auuition to ueleting files thiough Winuows Exploiei anu the commanu line, you can
woik with applications that manage files. Commeicial off-the-shelf softwaie, open souice
tools, oi custom-uevelopeu applications can suppoit a wiue iange of functions that
inteiface to the 0S, incluuing ueleting files. Beleting files fiom an application uoes not
entail the Winuows Exploiei anu theiefoie uoes not suppoit iecoveiy of ueleteu files fiom
the Recycle Bin.
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Commonly useu tools such as Niciosoft Woiu, Niciosoft Excel, anu Niciosoft PoweiPoint
let useis cieate inteimeuiate veisions of files as they aie woiking on them. These
inteimeuiate copies aie veisions that aie typically oveiwiitten. This is often a space
efficient way to hanule inteimeuiate files but it can leau to iecoveiy pioblems when
acciuentally oveiwiiting a file.
Foi example, consiuei woiking on a set of PoweiPoint sliues that you save eveiy Su
minutes. }ust as you aie neaiing the enu of youi woik, a colleague tells you theie has been a
change of plans anu the sliues neeu to be substantially ieviseu. In fiustiation, you uelete
youi cuiient set of sliues anu set to woik on the ieviseu veision. A few minutes into youi
woik on the new piesentation, you iealize that seveial of the sliues fiom an eailiei veision
of youi oiiginal piesentation woulu fit well with the new piesentation. 0nfoitunately, that
eailiei veision was oveiwiitten seveial times. Even though you can iecovei the ueleteu file
fiom the Winuows Recycle Bin, you only have a copy of the latest veision that uoes not
contain those eaily sliues. Bau you hau copies of each of youi veisions, you woulu be able
to iecovei the sliues you neeueu.

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The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

7
Theie aie many ways that files can be ueleteu anu not captuieu in the Winuows Recycle
Bin. In oiuei to pioviue some level of continuous uata piotection, IT suppoit staff have to
finu a way to compensate foi the limitations of the Winuows Recycle Bin.
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When useis cannot iecovei theii ueleteu files fiom the Winuows Recycle Bin, they may be
able to iecovei files using one of thiee othei options:
Restoiing fiom backups
Restoiing fiom snapshots
Restoiing fiom a thiiu-paity file iecoveiy application
These appioaches leau to vaiying levels of piotection, so it is helpful to consiuei the uetails
of each.
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Backups aie commonly useu foi uata piotection anu uisastei iecoveiy. 0iganizations have
many ieasons to peifoim backups anu keep backup sets, so it is a logical assumption to
think you can iecovei ueleteu files fiom backups. 0nfoitunately, theie aie limitations anu
costs associateu with using backups foi usei file iecoveiy.
Restoiing fiom backups can be time consuming foi IT staff, especially when the usei uoes
not iemembei the name oi location of the ueleteu file. Systems auministiatois may have to
spenu significant amounts of time seaiching backup sets. Similaiities in files names can
compounu the pioblem because seaiching can ietuin a laige numbei of files that coulu
potentially be the lost file.
Theie may be a uelay befoie a systems auministiatoi can iestoie a file. It is haiu to imagine
an IT suppoit team with so little to uo that they can immeuiately jump on a file iecoveiy
opeiation. 0f couise, if the file oi the usei is a high enough piioiity, then the systems
auministiatoi may stop what she is uoing anu focus on iecoveiing the lost file. This task, of
couise, just shifts the uelay fiom the file iecoveiy opeiation to someone else's suppoit task.
Also, the latest back up may not captuie iecent changes to uocuments oi files cieateu
between backups. Foi example, if backups aie maue uuiing the night, then the latest
backeu up veision of a file coulu be close to one uay olu. Someone woiking on a file all uay
can make so many changes that a 24-houi-olu backup may be of maiginal help.

The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

8
The time uelay anu potential foi not captuiing the latest veision of a file aie classic
pioblems in backups. These aie known as iecoveiy time objectives (RT0s) anu iecoveiy
point objectives (RP0s), iespectively. To ieach something close to continuous uata
piotection, you neeu to have neai-time RP0s. To minimize the uemanu on IT suppoit staff,
you shoulu have tools that have minimize the RT0 as well.
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Snapshots of uisks can pieseive the state of a stoiage system at a given point in time.
Snapshots can impiove RP0s because snapshots can captuie changes to files between
backups if snapshots aie peifoimeu uuiing the uay oi at othei times between backups. A
uisauvantage of snapshots is that they iequiie incieaseu stoiage anu entail auuitional
management oveiheau.
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A thiiu alteinative foi iecoveiing files is to use a thiiu-paity file iecoveiy application.
When assessing youi options in this aiea, consiuei how well the tools impiove ovei the
Winuows Recycle Bin, backups, anu snapshots.
An iueal thiiu-paity file iecoveiy application shoulu back up veisions of files as they aie
saveu. Nany useis woik with uesktop applications anu save theii woik inteimittently. A
file iecoveiy tool shoulu be able to pieseive all veisions of such files. Sometimes useis
make changes to a file that shoulu not have been maue, anu you neeu to ioll back to a
pievious veision. A file iecoveiy tool can help suppoit that use case.
The thiiu-paity tool shoulu also pioviue a usei equivalent to continuous uata piotection.
Back office applications, such as uatabases, can be configuieu foi continuous uata
piotection, anu now you can uo something similai foi useis woiking on uesktops anu
laptops.
0f couise, the thiiu-paity tool shoulu captuie files ueleteu outsiue of Winuows Exploiei.
Files ueleteu fiom the commanu line anu applications as well as files stoieu on netwoik
shaieu uiives shoulu be piotecteu.
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The Winuows Recycle Bin is a useful uata piotection tool, but it has significant limitations.
Files ueleteu fiom netwoik shaieu uiives oi fiom outsiue of Winuows Exploiei aie not
piotecteu, noi aie inteimeuiate veisions of files. 0seis anu systems auministiatois have
maue uo with the file iecoveiy featuies of backups anu snapshots, but thiiu-paity file
iecoveiy applications aie pioviuing an impioveu alteinative.

The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

9
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Businesses anu othei oiganizations often unueistanu the neeu foi continuous uata
piotection foi back office opeiations, such as uatabases anu customei-facing applications,
but may be less awaie of the neeu foi enu usei continuous uata piotection. If a bank loses
uata about a ueposit oi withuiawal, then balances will be off. A lost sales tiansaction can
uisiupt a customei's oiuei. A lost change to a usei authentication anu authoiization system
coulu leave someone with excessive piivileges to an application. These kinus of uata losses
aie so potentially uisiuptive that laige oiganizations take steps to pioviue continuous uata
piotection. Shoulu compaiable measuies be in place foi enu usei uata.
To answei the question about the neeu foi continuous uata piotection foi enu usei uata,
consiuei the following chaiacteiistics of enu usei uata on file seiveis oi netwoik shaies:
Acciuently ueleting files
Acciuently oveiwiiting files
Naliciously ueleting files
Baiuwaie failuies anu file coiiuption
Nany of us have acciuently ueleteu a file. 0ften it is not too much of a pioblem if we can
iecovei the file fiom the Winuows Recycle Bin. 0nfoitunately, theie aie a numbei of ways
we can uelete files in which they aie not maue iecoveiable by the Winuows Recycle Bin.
E/9&
These iecoveiy limitations aie uiscusseu in uetail in the eailiei aiticle,
"Limits of the Winuows Recycle Bin: Impioving File Recoveiy 0ptions."
You can also uelete multiple files, foi example, by ueleting a foluei oi using a wilucaiu in a
uelete commanu issueu on the commanu line.
Acciuents can happen within applications as well. Such is especially the case when you use
"Save As" commanus anu acciuently oveiwiite an existing file. Foi example, you might
intenu to save a uocument as one type, such as a .uocx, but acciuently select anothei type,
such as .puf, anu oveiwiite the piioi veision of the file.
The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

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Not all file loss is acciuental. Nalicious attackeis, fiom uisgiuntleu employees to any
numbei of taigeteu viiuses, may uelete files that appeai impoitant, ianuomly select files, oi
methouically attempt to uelete all accessible files. Secuiity measuies aie impoitant to
mitigate the iisk of such attacks. In spite of best effoits, though, oiganizations can still
suffei malicious attacks that leau to uata loss. In such cases, it is impoitant to have an
inciuent iesponse plan in place to iesponu to the attack. Responses shoulu incluue
measuies to contain the uamage, assess the means by which the attack was caiiieu out, anu
iestoie opeiations to theii pie-attack state. Continuous uata piotection can help mitigate
the impacts of malicious attacks.
In auuition to acciuentally ueleting files, oveiwiiting existing files, anu malicious attacks,
theie is the iisk of haiuwaie anu softwaie failuies. Bisk uiives fail. Bugs in applications can
coiiupt uata. Laptops can be uioppeu anu bioken. It is uifficult to anticipate the specifics of
these kinus of failuies, but it is piuuent to plan foi them.

The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

11
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Backups anu snapshots aie useful foi uata piotection but they aie typically not a
compiehensive solution foi continuous uata piotection of enu usei files. Foi example,
backups uo not iecovei changes maue since the last backup. Woik peifoimeu between the
time of the last backup anu the time of file loss is not piotecteu by the backup.

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Snapshots can impiove uata piotection between backups. With snapshots, copies of uata
on peisistent stoiage uevices aie maue at inteivals between backups. This setup impioves
the RP0 but uoes not meet the ultimate goal of continuous uata piotection. Fuithei moie,
snapshots entail significant stoiage oveiheau. Nanaging snapshots anu ensuiing the iight
balance of space utilization anu uata piotection can auu to systems auministiatois'
woikloaus.

The Essentials Seiies: Achieving Continuous Bata Piotection with a Recycle Bin foi File Seiveis

12
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The state of the ait in enu usei continuous uata piotection is baseu on file iecoveiy
applications that pioviue many key featuies:
Allowing foi self-seivice iecoveiy of files ueleteu fiom a file seivei oi netwoik
shaie. Enu useis uo not have to solicit the help of systems auministiatois foi simple
iecoveiy opeiations. This setup ieuuces the woikloau on auministiatois anu can
help speeu the time to iecoveiy foi enu useis.
0ffeiing the ability to captuie veisions of files as they aie saveu iathei than just the
last veision of a file.
Compensating foi the limitations of the Winuows Recycle Bin by piotecting files
ueleteu at the commanu line oi in applications while also piotecting files ueleteu
fiom netwoik file shaies.
Pieseiving file system secuiity contiols in the file iecoveiy applications. 0seis
shoulu not have access to files in the iecoveiy iepositoiy if they uo not have access
to that file in the file system.
This combination of featuies is a benefit to both enu usei anu IT suppoit staff. The foimei
have bettei contiol ovei the time it takes to iecovei ueleteu files while the lattei aie left
with moie time foi highei-piioiity issues.
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It is possible to offei enu useis continuous uata piotection. At the same time, those useis
can gain gieatei contiol ovei the iecoveiy piocess with the use of self-seivice iecoveiy
featuies foi all local anu netwoik files. IT auministiatois can still maintain contiol ovei file
secuiity while ieuucing theii oveiall woikloau when it comes to iestoiing files. Continuous
uata piotection pioviues foi bettei RP0s anu ieuuces the iisk of losing substantial amounts
of woik. The Winuows Recycle Bin has woikeu well foi some cases of ueleteu files but not
all, especially in laige enviionments that noimally use centializeu stoiage. Thiiu-paity
tools aie now available to fill those gaps.