A number of folks asked me at my recent workshop on the Biggest Business Pitfalls of Technology: “How should we back up our data?” This is a tough question a pretty long answer. Let me give you some DOs and DON’Ts to help you decide:
DO backup your data everyday and test that backup!
DO encrypt your data on every backup!
DON’T backup to a CD / DVD / or tape device. CDs / DVDs do not have a very long shelf life, and we have seen way too many companies / people lose their backup data on these. Tapes also have a short life (you should plan on replacing them at least once a year), but here’s the real kicker – often you can’t find the proprietary tape drive you need to restore the data during a full on disaster. Sometimes you find the drive, but you can’t restore to it, because your drive has a misaligned head making it so your original drive was the only one that can read it! (You know the drive that burnt up on the fire or was stolen or whatever caused you to need to get your data from backup!)
DO take a look at the following hard drive solutions – they will allow you to get your data off site and keep it safe. They also can be plugged into any computer to start the restore process:
- Western Digital 1TB Elements External HD – costs about $110 per drive, and you should have at least 3 of them to backup your company’s critical data off site.
- Dell PowerVault RD1000 – a little more expensive, but the drives are much smaller and easier to carry than the Western Digital Solution. This is important if you want to fit the drive in your purse.
DON’T backup all of your critical data to an offline storage facility like Mozy – it will take days for you to get it back in the case of a real emergency! If you are interested in storing your data on the internet, contact us and we will point you to a solution that gets you immediate access t to all of your data in the case of an emergency.
DO consider using a fireproof / waterproof / coffee spill proof solution like ioSafe Solo data vault. This thing can withstand a just about anything, bolt one to the floor under your desk tomorrow!
DON’T just backup your server’s data – we find that 90% of the people that tell us they never store information on their desktops, in fact have critical information, report templates, account information, and software they cannot recover on their desktops. Get complete images of all of your computers!
DO consider Fixed IT, our service that takes care of all of these critical backup issues for you as eliminates all of your computer problems in one step!
DO attend the webinar – The Nine Biggest Pitfalls of Technology and Steps You Can Take To Protect Your Business on December 2 at 4:00 PM – Contact Debra to register at 1.888.530.9596
