Backup

If you lost all your data right now, would you be able to stay in business? (OK, don’t answer that.)

We believe that backing up may be the most important technical task you perform for your business. No matter what your company does, you’re likely to have critical information that can’t easily be replaced: your customers, employees, suppliers, or business processes.

The essence of a back up is to copy your important computer information to another location for safe keeping in case disaster strikes. It may be the most important technical task you perform for your business. It is very likely that you have critical information about your customers, employees, suppliers and business processes that can not be easily replaced. A sound backup policy is a crucial consideration in determining whether to run any computer systems in-house.

Benefits

• Keep your business going when disaster strikes

Considerations

• Backup Approach

  The backup approach is perhaps the most important aspect when evaluating backup solutions. The reason: The approach determines the restore time, cost, and the backup products and services available.

  	1. Partial / Data Only Backup	2. Full / Disk Image Backup
  Overview	Only the key data directories/folders or files you specify are backed up.	The entire contents of a hard drive are copied or cloned.
  Backup Effort	You will need to review all your software to determine how and where your important data is stored.	You don't need to review all your software to locate key data because everything will be backed up. Data corresponds directly to backup time so more data means increased backup time and storage needs.
  Backup Storage Space	You only need to backup the specific data you need so the storage space may be significantly less than your hard drive capacity.	Since the operating system, other software applications and data will be backed up, the backup will represent the entire contents of your disk drive.
  Restore Time	If only a few files need to be restored, recovery will be quick. However, if a full restore is needed where operating system software and other applications need to be reinstalled and reconfigured, it could take days.	Full restores can be done very quickly since you will not have to reinstall or reconfigure any applications. Most software also allows for quick single file restores as well.

• Data Failure Events

  Below are the two main types of failures you may encounter:

  Event	Event Description	To Fix It
  File Failure	A file has been accidentally deleted or has become corrupted. In this case, it is ideal to have multiple backup versions of the files in case you need to find an older copy that has not been corrupted.	The file will need to be restored or the application reinstalled.
  Disk Failure 1	The computer is out of commission due to a hardware or software problem, fire, flood or theft.	Unless the hard disk drive can be fixed or installed on another computer, a full restore will be needed. The operating system, applications, configuration settings and data will need to be restored.

  • ¹ There is an approach called RAID, (redundant array of independent disks) that can help protect against drive failures. While RAID is not technically a backup, it can keep you going in the event of a disk failure.
• Ideal Backup Qualities
  • Be simple to use and manage
  • Allow a restore in time to meet business needs
  • Be regularly transported offsite to protect against a site disaster
  • Be verifiable
  • Provide for multiple restore points

Features:

• Encryption

  Backup files are encrypted to prevent unauthorized access.

• Remote Access

  Access backed up files remotely via the Internet.

Implementation Options

1. In-House Backup Solution	2. Internet Backup Service
You or a hired technology service provider will evaluate, purchase, implement, and maintain the backup hardware and software within your business.	The software and the infrastructure to perform backups are provided by an Internet-based company. While a few services do advertise disk image backups, the truth is that most Internet backup services perform selective or data-only backups.