Any Backup? Recent and Reliable Backups
The Best Protection
If your business depends on even one computer, you must do backups. Conversely, if you cannot justify the cost of doing backups -- either in terms of time or money -- you cannot justify using a computer for your business.
System failures happen. Hard drives crash. Bad people break into
computers and destroy data. Other bad people steal computers.
Natural disasters strike. Mistakes are made. (You deleted
what?
) Worms and viruses play havoc every day.
Murphy's law applies. Even those with modest computer experience
know this to be true.
Yet not everyone performs backups. And even though many do, everyone loses an important file -- or worse -- sooner or later. In every case of disaster, the best protection your business can have is a recent and reliable backup of all critical data.
Free. Automatic. Secure. Mozy Online Backup
Recent and reliable
When disaster strikes, recent and reliable backups are all that matters. Your backup methods are not relevant to the situation. So ask yourself how you can ensure that you always have recent and reliable backups. With a little thought, you will realize:
- Any backup is better than no
backup.
This becomes abundantly clear when disaster strikes!
- Any medium can be used.
Yes, even the lowly diskette is sufficient for small incremental changes. Tapes or optical disks are ideal, depending on your needs. In general, you can store very much more data on tape -- for example, up to 40 GB on a typical tape cartridge vs. about 700 MB. on a single CD-ROM disk (thats nearly 60x as much data!).
The trade-offs include cost, convenience and capacity. Tape drives tend to be expensive but tapes inherently are re-writable and can be recycled many times. Of course, the more expensive optical disks (including DVDs) can be rewritten as well and you might already have one.
Tape is the least convenient medium for finding a specific file, but hopefully, you should not have to do this too often. For a full restoration serial access is not a problem, and the better tape drives are remarkably fast.
Also consider removable disk drives (e.g. Zip or USB) for backups. These are very versatile and can be used to copy your important files to another computer in addition to general purpose storage. And you can take your work home with you! (Not helpful for a home business, of course).
Finally, transferring files to another computer across a network works, with a few important considerations: you must use encryption if you use any public network, you will likely need high-speed access for any sizable backup, and your
bandwidth
may be a limiting or costly factor.See the
Online Backup Advantage
.
Inexpensive, Secure. Effective. - Anything easily replaced can be
excluded
You do not have to back up your whole operating system! (assuming, of course, you have the original CDs, should a reinstall be necessary). You also can exclude any other software that you have
on the shelf
- Anything that does not change can be
excluded after an initial backup.
You may choose to backup everything once, and then only the new or changed files on a daily basis (incremental backups). The biggest problem with this approach is in doing a recovery; you will have to be careful about the order in which files are restored. Using backup software supporting incremental backups is best, if not essential, for this to work well.
- A regular backup schedule requires
discipline -- or automation
Automate as much of the backup routine as possible. Even then, you will have to change media on a regular basis -- assuming you don't buy something really expensive -- and routinely transport backups off-site. Many software packages are available to keep things sorted out and scheduled. Unless you are good at scripting, consider purchasing such a package.
Computer online backup should be automatic. Get 2GB's of free backup or plans starting at $5.99
- Most recent is usually most
important
Recent files likely will be mission-critical to your recovery following a disaster. Having older backups may be helpful, but current backups are essential. That is why a routine backup schedule is so important. Again, your best choice is to use backup software to automate the process as much as possible.
- Off-site storage of backups is
important
Fire or flood? Your melted CDs -- or soggy tapes -- may not be too reliable after the computers are replaced. And a thief might be in too big a hurry to remove your removable disk drive when he runs off with the whole computer. Always keep some backups -- if not all backups -- off-site.
- Cost should not be a deciding
factor.
Even with no budget for backups, you can usually make do with what you have. To repeat,
Any backup is better than no backup!
Unable to spare the time? Another option is to out-source the whole process to a managed backup service. You will have to find a company you can trust with all of your enterprise data, so think about what you are willing to pay for this service.
Is a recent and reliable backup strategy simply too painful to think about? Think about the pain your business could suffer when disaster strikes. Your company data can be restored but never replaced.
We Can Help!
At The Bitmill®, we have considerable experience with large systems administration and security in an Internet environment. As consultants we are available to provide professional guidance and support for all your computer security needs. As software developers, we are committed to creating affordable quality security tools for any enterprise, small or large. And as a young company, we are only just beginning to achieve these goals.
You Can Help!
What keeps you up at night? How can we help? We are very interested in hearing your comments, suggestions and requirements! These will help guide our course as we grow.
We look forward to hearing from you. Please contact us!
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