Are You Really Backing Up Your Data

Critical Mass: Backups

Computers store vital information including financials, scheduling, email, even pictures, but most users fail to take into consideration a solid backup. This is a potential time bomb. Computers do fail and backups then are heavily relied upon. I see this every day, and people without a solid backup are devastated.

BackUp Options:

Backing up to an external hard drive is not a reliable long term solution. A hard drive is simply a number of CDs stacked between a read/write head, and these parts are moving constantly. They wear, fatigue and fail over time. While typically acceptable for home use, this is not a good solution for business use.

Off site backup has its own perils. Upload speeds are extremely fast--it looks great. Most download speeds to restore are so slow that even small amounts of data can take a number of days to restore.

The best solution for Backing Up important data is an external RAID device using an industry standard software product. A RAID is a redundant array of independent hard drives, so you have duplication in case one drive fails. This device, while extremely reliable, should be checked regularly to make sure it backed up successfully.

Backup Routine Maintenance--verifying you have a good backup:

There are two steps to verify a successful backup. Every few months create a test document, and let your backup run as scheduled. The next day, delete the test document then do a restore. If this test file restores correctly, you are halfway there. This is the "big" picture of the backup.

The "detail" part of this verification is that you should be familiar enough with your backup software to be able to look at the log and make sure the backup ran without errors. This is a simple but important step as it confirms that all the individual files backed up without errors.

Preparation is priceless:

To have a solid, verified backup will save a lot of sleepless nights. Once a drive or server crashes, most frantic people will try a last-ditch effort and send the old hard disk out for Data Recovery. Over the years, we have found that the Data Recovery companies have a very unhappy client sign a contract that says that there are no guarantees that the information will be recovered. The only guarantee is fee which is typically significant and this is non-refundable. In my experience we have never had a client receive usable data from a data recovery company in time to be of use in a productivity crisis.

The cost of the computer and new backup is minimum compared to what it is to replace the information which is priceless to most people.

One quick question:

The one question that I always ask people when I first meet them, is "If the computer that you are working on was to disappear off of your desk right now, how would it affect you?

The reason that I ask this question is that most people say there is not any important information on the system but we almost always get the call a few days later that they rethought the importance of their data.

More info? See our website http://www.commsat.net/

Ben Soussan - CommSat --IT Systems Integrator since 1982

603-601-0055

Ben Soussan

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Backing Yourself Up

If antivirus is one of the two most important things when it comes to computing, backups are the second. Unless you're a hardcore gamer or video editor, most of us derive nearly all the benefit from the data on our computer, not the actual computer itself. In today's digital age, nearly everyone uses a computer to work, and we're all be in big trouble without the data on it. Not everyone can spring for an expensive tape backup solution, and today's hard drives would require a huge amount of DVDs and even more CDs to completely back up, so what is a normal user to do?

In over a decade of computer support, we have seen a huge number of backup solutions, both for home and corporate use. Today, the solutions boil down to two, and the first is an external hard drive. These USB drives can be as big or bigger than your computer's hard drive, are portable, are very inexpensive considering the data they can protect, and are simple to use. Simply get a drive that's bigger than your computer's hard drive (always nice to have some extra space, and at less than ten cents a gigabyte, why not?), and copy our files that are important to the drive. Store the drive in a cool, dark place away from water, magnets, and shock, and you'll have a reasonably safe backup. It's important to note that storing this backup drive in a car in the sun probably isn't the best idea (and yes, we've seen it).

The other option is online backup. This is a software based option that you pay a subscription to that automatically backs up your files to a server on the Internet. This is an attractive option because the costs can be as little at $55 annually, there's not much to do once the program's setup, and there's no hard drive or CDs to lose. The downside is that it requires software on our computer to run, and some Internet services (notably both Comcast and AT&T) put a limit on the amount of information we can transfer every month. These are minor downsides though. We've had great luck with Carbonite, eFolder, and Mozy, though new providers are coming out every day.

Of course, the most important thing about a backup is to check it regularly. Many of us simply setup this kind of service, and never check it or test it only to find that it hasn't been working for six months or so when we need it. This is why we include backup monitoring and testing in our monitored services. It's always a good idea to make sure you test your backup monthly, and our insurance policy for unrecoverable items will be in place!

Stephen Hicks is the CEO and Co-Owner of MSMB Networks http://msmbnetworks.com/, an enterprise-level Information Technology consulting firm. With an MBA in finance and an MCSA, he has worked for companies in over 50 industries in the California Bay Area. His specialties include Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory administration, wireless security, and user communication. In his spare time, Stephen is a martial artist, possessing a 2nd degree black belt in Shito Ryu karate.

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Why Backing Up Data Is Necessary and 4 Ways to Do It

Where is the warranty policy for your laptop? You don't really know, do you? The warranty policy that comes with a new laptop is often lost or ignored by the purchaser at the time of purchase. It's a new machine so you think "what could happen?" But data loss is a real threat and can be a very expensive laptop repair expense. Is that covered by the warranty? When there's a problem many of us start searching everywhere for the warranty but here's the truth: many times, data recovery is not covered by the manufacturer.

Data recovery can be a costly disaster. It can cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars, and not all of the information may be salvageable. If the hard drive is liquid or fire damaged it can be virtually impossible to save anything. So what can you do to prevent such a disaster?

It is always a good idea to backup all of your files, or at least the ones you care about. You need to be proactive about this, so that if something does happen to your laptop, your information is safe. Most people keep a lot of sensitive personal and professional information on their computers. Hundreds of files they would dearly miss should they be lost. So what are some of your options to ensure that your files are safe?

1-Get a Flash Drive or CD/DVD
Most of us only really care about certain files. Our family pictures, our work projects, our writings. Using a flash memory drive you can attach by USB port or a simple CD / DVD, you can save these files externally. This is also the cheapest way to store data, and should you need laptop repair, you still have access to these files and can use them on another machine.

2-Backup Bookmarks Online
This is especially helpful if you are someone who has a lot of internet browser bookmarks. There are many options online to export your bookmarks so that you never lose them. http://www.delicious.com and http://www.diigo.com is a great place to start.

3-Backup to another Hard Drive
If you have a secondary hard drive installed in your desktop computer, or own an external hard drive, you should have a copy of all important files on both hard drives. If you have two identical hard drives, you can setup RAID 1 Mirroring to have this done automatically. Setting up RAID 1 is beyond the scope of this article, so if you're interested in more information search for additional articles and guides on Google.

4-Create a Disk Image / Recovery Disk
If you want to be sure you have EVERYTHING safely backed up, making a disk image of your hard drive is often the best way to go. There are a number of disk image software programs available; just search on Google for more information. In the event of hard drive failure, you can use the disk image to restore everything to a new hard drive, including Windows, all of your installed programs, drivers, and personal files.

Losing all of your information when your laptop breaks down can be a disaster. Regular backups can mean the difference between a slight setback and a catastrophe. Before this happens to you, make sure to back up your files in case the worst occurs.

Computer Republic specializes in laptop repair, computer repair, and data recovery services.

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