Most firm owners are aware that it is important to keep a backup of their data. But how often should you backup and what type of technology should you use? As we are in the facts age, it is for real not that hard to find a solution for a problem, but the big inquire remains. Is it for real was the right solution? Often this is not determined until a important point arises and your solution fails. The same view is true for your backup solution. The inquire of which solution is the right solution is a difficult one. It depends on your nature of business, your environment, your funds and of policy on the estimate of data which needs to be backed up. I have seen it fullness of times. Businesses don't have any backups and their computer or server crashes and they lose all their data. However, some businesses understand the significance of a backup system and therefore have one in place. Although, there is a unlikeness between having a backup solution and having a fully functioning backup solution.
I have peruse the ease of a firm with a backup solution after a systems crash or hard drive failure. In those cases, someone has setup a backup solution a few years ago and left it at that. I have peruse backup solutions where the power has been disconnected from the backup expedient for more than half a year. I have seen businesses run their backups every day, but storing the wrong data. I have seen corrupted backup data and firms which have outgrown the maximum capacity of their backup medium over a year ago, thus only backing up 60% of their data. What I am trying to say is that problems can occur with backup solutions and they can be very costly. They can cost you years of work and sometimes they can even cost you your business. Although, the one time setup of automatic backups that run forever solutions work great in theory, the reality is that backup solutions need constant monitoring and should be tested on occasion. Yes, it for real is that important!
Testing your backup solution can be very time consuming, and I would recommend seeking professional help to aid you. But it is something which should be done annually. More then 85% of all businesses do not test their backup solutions. I have even worked with some Fortune 500 enterprises which have never tested there .000.00 backup solution.
The three base types of backup solutions are: tape backup, disk backup, and internet backup. All three types of solutions should be tested. It is hard to generalize what the best backup solution is, because it for real depends on your type of firm and size. Therefore, I will just mention the benefits and drawbacks of the three backup types, leaving it open for you to resolve which solution is right for you. Tape backup is the historic and solid veteran. If you don't need to utilize a lot of backup capacity the tape solution is inexpensive and reliable. If you are running a large club and have lots of data, then the tape solution is not as inexpensive anymore, but still reliable. Tapes are rugged and solid backup mediums. The main drawback of tape backup systems is that restoring is often a lot slower then it's competing disk backup solution.
The disk backup solution is the quickest backup and recovery solution. This solution is generally for small companies where all firm data can be stored on a single large disk drive. The drawback for disk backup solutions are that the hard drives are very sensitive too changes in temperature, and stock. If you would drop the hard drive that holds your backup, it would be damaged. The internet backup solution is the youngest of the backup systems. This solution can be applied for any type and size of firm and can be cost effective. The drawback is that you can only backup and restore your data when you have a solid internet connection. I would recommend talking to an experienced It counselor about your backup solution, needs, and test procedures. I hope this white paper has helped some of you to good understand the separate backup solutions and the necessity in monitoring and testing your backup solution.
Avoiding Surprises When Backing Up Your Data
