What Does Backup Mean?
Backup refers to the process of making copies of data or data files to use in the event the original data or data files are lost or destroyed. Secondarily, a backup may refer to making copies for historical purposes, such as for longitudinal studies, statistics or for historical records or to meet the requirements of a data retention policy. Many applications, especially in a Windows environment, produce backup files using the .BAK file extension.
Techopedia Explains Backup
Not all backup systems or backup applications are capable of completely restoring a computer system or other complex system configurations such as a database server, computer cluster or active directory servers. Managing the backup process involves organization and is a complicated process. An unstructured backup may simply consist of a stack of floppy disks, CDs or DVDs. However, it is obvious that security and ease of data recovery are both severely compromised.
