These backups only backup data and files that have been changed since the previous full or prior incremental backups. Backups are written to a high-grade reliable tape media. Incremental backup tapes are kept for at least 2 weeks. Full backups are kept for at least 6 weeks, with the 1 st Friday of the month full backups being retained for one year. Tapes that are retained for the full year are kept at the FCC tape vault.
Tapes use a simple external label system to help identify the data.
Regular weekly full backups are labeled with a W and Daily incrementals are initialized with the letter D . A database of all the tapes used and their associated data files is maintained on-line by the backup software. Tapes can also be scanned by the backup software to determine the tapes contents. With the volume of data we maintain, several restores are performed each week. This random amount of restoration aids in the verification of the reliability of backups.