One of the most common things I am asked to do is to recover files from a computer that has failed. Fortunately, many things happen to a computer that do not destroy your files, but occasionally, I encounter a failed hard drive. When this happens, it will be costly to recover your data.
If you perform effective backups of your important files, then you will rarely have to worry about losing them. If your hard drive crashes or your computer is melted in a fire, a backup will keep your files safe. Here are some thoughts to consider when planning how you will backup your data:
1) Importance vs. Cost - How much time and money you want to invest in backing up your files should be proportional to the importance of those files. If the only files on your computer are a few letters that you probably won't need, then backing them up is of little importance. If your computer has the only copy of your wedding photos, then backing them up should be a little higher priority. If recreating lost files could cost your business days or weeks of lost productivity, then backups need to be one of your top priorities.
2) What Can Happen? - Planning your backup needs to take into account everything that could happen to your computer. A hard drive crash is the most common problem, but it is certainly not the only thing that can destroy your data. A natural disaster--such as a fire or tornado--could also destroy your computer. And if your only backup is on an external hard drive or flash drive sitting next to the computer, your backup will probably not survive either. For this reason, some of your backups should be stored elsewhere: either online, in a bank's safety deposit box, or at another location. It could even be to occasionally trade backups with a friend who lives on the other side of town. (Obviously, you would not want to trade any sensitive data.)
3) Automate It - No one usually thinks about performing a backup until it is too late. Therefore, the best idea is to set up your computer automatic backups. This can be programmed through Windows or using third-party software.
4) Consider the Cloud - Storing your backups online has become the latest trend in data security. This keeps your files safe from just about any disaster, and it can be easily automated. There are many options when backing up files to the cloud. To start, I would recommend using Google Drive or Dropbox. Both of these services offer a generous amount of space free, and you have the option to purchase more at a reasonable price. Furthermore, both have programs you can download to your computer. Simply place a file in the Google Drive or Dropbox folder, and the program automatically syncs it with the server. Then, your "backup" happens every time a file is changed, not just when you schedule it. There are also paid options available that will perform more comprehensive backups of your computer. If you are considering this option, I would start with Carbonite.
5) Test, Test, Test - I was recently called to the site of a business that had suffered a server hard drive failure. I asked if they had a backup, and they informed me that someone had installed a second hard drive to store backups and had set the server to backup automatically. I began to work on recovering the backups, and I discovered that the second hard drive had become corrupted, and no backups were being performed. If you have extremely valuable data (such as business data), then you need to schedule times for testing your backups! If you do not test your backups, you have no idea if you are actually backing up your data properly.
For personal files, testing may be as simple as opening a few files off of the DVD to ensure they were copied correctly. For businesses, testing may mean restoring a backup to an older machine to make sure everything works correctly. As I mentioned in the first point, the amount of testing you do will be related to the importance of the files.
No comments:
Post a Comment