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.

The best way to go about settling on a backup strategy is to evaluate how each computer is used in the business. It is best to create a document to keep track of all your computers and some of the vital information. To find how vital a computer is to your business and what a recovery may involve you need to know (1) how many people use it, (2) what programs are used and (3) whether the original software is still available so it can be reinstalled. In general, computers should fall into the following main categories:

	1. In-House Backup Solution	2. Internet Backup Service
Find Local Tech Specialists Search TechShortcut's tech profiles for specialists in your area	Backup
Find More Information Use Research Helper to find related web articles	Software Application Backup Software Application Backup Disk Image Clone	Online Backup Service
Examples of Products and Services These are not endorsements, simply some product or service names we encountered in our research to get you started finding your best fit.	Full/Disk Image Backup Acronis True Image Paragon Software Drive Backup Symantec Ghost Partial/Data Backup Cobian 1 1 Free	Partial/Data Backup Carbonite Seagate i365 IronMountain Mozy 1 1 Also offers a free version

Outside Information

• Wikipedia: Backup

Related Tips

• Tip 1 - Temporary Options

  Any backup is better than no backup. Here are some simple ways to make a copy of files to protect your business data:

  Local options

  • Use a thumb drive—aka a Flash drive—with capacities into the Gigabytes now
  • Use CD's, DVD's, spare hard drives

  Internet options

  • Make the most of attachments: many Internet services like Yahoo include a briefcase where you can upload files
  • Email Attachments: You can always email yourself a file or even a zipped-up folder containing several files.
• Tip 2 - Central Backup Location for Everyone

  If you are trying to back up several machines and driving yourself crazy trying to track down the files, consider letting the users do it for you. Designate a computer or server to be the backup source and give each person a directory. Then, tell each user to copy their files periodically to the server or risk losing data.

• Tip 3 - Common Directories on Each Computer

  If you are trying to help back up several machines it can also help to impose some common standards by creating standard directories e.g. c:\user\word\; c:\user\excel\ so you will not have to guess where user files are located. You will also want to make sure that the preferences for applications are updated to save all types of files in the new directories.