The Disaster Recovery Interview
Data backup and recovery is one of the most overlooked parts of a company’s IT structure. With all of the technology available today, the absence of even the most elementary backup solution is a mortal sin in regard to the business technology universe. There are affordable backup and data recovery systems in every price range, so even companies with limited budgets can afford an elementary system at the very least. Also many computer services firms now offer backup and data recovery systems as integral parts of their managed IT services.
Some things to consider when thinking about your backup and disaster recovery solution(s):
1. What happens if I delete a file?
2. Where is my email stored and is it backed up?
3. What if my computer crashes? Even if my data is saved how long will it take me to rebuild my computer to a functioning state?
4. Is all of my backup data located in the same physical location?
5. Will a catastrophe wipe out my backup solution i.e. a fire?
6. Does my business count on any one system for business critical functions? How long can my business operate without a functioning system? Does my current backup solution accomodate that expectation?
7. Does someone in our company know how to retrieve information off backups?
8. Are my backups tested so I know they work?
9. Are my backups monitored so I know if they are ever failing?
10. Is the backup data media (i.e. hard drives or tapes) transferred in a secure, controlled manor since it contains all data for my entire business?
This list covers about 1/4 of the questions that you should review when it comes to a practical backup and disaster recovery solution so if you haven’t asked yourself these questions, start today! If you are confused, contact a local computer services provider which should be able to assist your company.
How do I Back up my Hard Drive? - 12 Top Tips
It used to be that you would backup everything on your computer with floppy disks.Today, when one sound or graphics file can easily be larger than the capacity of a disk, it would not be practical to back up even you documents on floppies, let alone your applications. Luckily there are better options including Zip disks, CD writers, tape drives, external hard drives and even online backup services.You can also compress all of your backed up files so they take up less space.Read the following tips and you will be able to find the media that is best suited to your needs.
1) Next, determine the approximate quantity and file sizes you will be backing up.
2) Figure out the quantity and file sizes of any documents or applications you may want to archive permanantly to a backup device or removable media.
3) Plan for that amount of information to grow in the future.
4) You should work out your budget for a backup storage device and removable media to use with it.
5) Consider if you plan to archive photographs or scanned files, need portability of the media or the drive itself, wish to record sound or music for playback on other equipment, or need ease of use.Weigh these factors along with your need to back up the files.
6) Work out the total cost per MB of media for each drive you are considering.zip drives themselves are cheap however the disks aren't.
7) You may want to consider buying a 100MB zip drive if you need limited storage capability (less than 1GB). An external parallel port or USB Zip drive provides the most versatility and portability.Consider buying a 250MB Zip drive if your storage requirements are moderate (a few GB).
8) Buy an internal zip drive if you will only use the drive for backup and you are able to install it by yourself (installation fees add up).
9) You may want to consider buying yourself a CD-RW drive if your storage needs are more moderate and you will regularly back up more than 500MB of data.
10) Buy a Jaz drive or even a tape backup drive if you will be backing up large amounts of data regularly.
11) Buy an external hard disk if you will need a lot of space, wont be keeping old backups and dont need portability.
12) If you require additional security, data protection and the ability to recover your data quickly then online data backup should be a serious consideration.