The process of evaluating and purchasing backup products can be an intimidating one. It's not enough to simply buy a new tape drive or upgrade to a larger disk--not with data volumes growing at 60% per year. In addition, as more vendors deliver more backup products to meet specific backup needs, it gets harder for IT organizations to make informed product choices. This backup product buying guide lists the criteria involved in selecting backup products for each backup product category and offers product specifications that will help you compare products. The notion of "data protection" has opened the door for specialized backup tools such as continuous data protection (CDP), remote replication and snapshots. Even once the backup platform is decided, you'll still need software to execute the necessary backups.