Backing Up Computer Data
Data stored on your business' computers probably represents one of your most important assets. You may have client data, financial data, contact lists - in fact, what isn't on a computer these days? But these assets can be destroyed in just a matter of seconds from user error, technical faults or malicious hacking. The only sure way to limit loss is by backing up (copying and storing) the data on your computers on a regular basis. How you back it up and how often you do it are decisions for you to make but unless you backup your data on a regular basis you're placing a lot of your businesses' intellectual property at risk.
A choice of backup methods
- You can backup your computer data onto recordable media if the volume of your data isn't too large for it. The simplest way is to copy your files onto a recordable DVD (a DVD-R) that will hold about 8GB of data. Since PCs now commonly come with hard drives in excess of 8GB this may take up too much of your time to be practical, but it is relatively easy providing you have a DVD burner on your machine.
- Another, and better option, is to backup onto portable media such as the very affordable 300GB data storage drives now on the market. Backing up onto tapes is another possibility.
- You can put a second hard drive into your PC and make a copy of your primary hard disk drive. This is also very easy to do but it has one major drawback - your 'mirror' drive can be destroyed by the same calamity that destroys your primary drive, so it's not a preferred backup method.
- You can use an online backup service and upload your data over the Internet to their servers. This is becoming increasingly popular as broadband access increases, and the costs aren't very high. Large amounts of data can take quite a while to transmit, and if the backup service operator fails your data could be lost. It's a good backup method but shouldn't be your only one.
There are software backup programs available to help you backup your data, regardless of which of the above three methods you choose. They automate the backup process and schedule backups when it's most convenient for you.
What if you have a network?
Many small businesses now have a local area network (LAN) which gives them the option of setting up a single backup point rather than backing up individual computers in the network. You can backup all the computers and file servers on a network along with your file servers onto one high-capacity data storage unit using a utility program to manage the scheduling.
How often should you backup your data?
Most offices perform a backup of their most critical data on a daily basis. Even the loss of a single day's data can be a serious problem for some businesses, and some files get backed up twice a day or even more frequently. Less important data can be backed up weekly if you feel that's sufficient. The most important thing is to backup regularly so it becomes a habit. Allowing a scheduled backup to be delayed until the next morning is bad management. Be sure all the backups are kept in a safe place, as far from the source computers as possible.
Train your employees to backup data
If you intend to have your employees backup their own computers you should have a written policy that covers which data is backed up, how often a backup is made, and how the backup files are stored. You must also be sure that every employee responsible for backing up their computer knows how to do it. Put this policy into your employee training manual, together with instructions on how to backup a PC. Be sure to update your manual and the instructions every time you amend your backup policy or procedures - or your hardware and software.
What if disaster does strike?
It's almost inevitable that the situation will arise where you haven't backed up something important and the computer dies. The good news is that data can often be recovered from severely damaged machines, but it's horrifically expensive and only to be used as a last resort. It's far better to arrange regular backups for all your data and store the copies in a safe place.
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