And there is a tendency for users and even administrators to overlook keeping back ups on a regular basis. Having to redo work can be extremely expensive. It is possible that some data or customers might be lost for ever. It is possible that the expense can be so great that it drives the company out of business. An archival backup is one that is kept in an archive for long term storage.
Archival copies are particularly useful for audits or cross-referencing long term information.
In UNIX systems, a cron job can be created that automatically performs a periodic backup. A temporary backup is one that is kept for a short period of time. Organizations are unlikely to be able to keep every single back up made. The basic rule of thumb is to maintain at least three copies of a backup. An off-site copy of applications and data can be essential for recovery from a major disaster, such as fire, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, flood, or terrorist attack.