How to Prevent Lost Data for Small Businesses
How to Prevent Lost Data for Small Businesses
It has been said that many companies go to great lengths to protect their data from data loss and the need for data recovery. Some companies actually store vital data within war bunkers buried hundreds of feet below the surface to shelter itself from unknown outside forces.
As most companies would not need such drastic measures for data security, all companies from small to large must protect their data from elements such as floods, hackers, human error, and hardware failures.
In business, time is money, and any type of data loss could cost a company thousands to millions of dollars or could potentially, put them permanently out of business. What this all boils down to is, all companies small or large must have a data recovery/data loss plan in place.
How quickly a company can get up and running is truly dependant on the preparation of the IT administrator. A few key questions one must ask themselves is how long could your business stay afloat if you were to lose all accounting information or even the entire email server. There are many people out there who consistently rely on their computers day-in and day-out to turn on and function perfectly everyday of the week, truly taking for granted that they are susceptible to viruses, human errors, and mechanical failures.
With a true understanding of the value of a companys data along with all unforeseen data loss possibilities understood, its time to make a plan. For most companies, a sensible backup solution is required which must be checked on and executed on a regular basis. Key points to remember are:
1. Routine backups must be made if not on a daily basis, at the least a weekly basis.
2. Backups must be comprehensive meaning you must insure that nothing is left out and all data is fully backed up.
3. Multiple storage site locations. Data should be kept in multiple locations due to unforeseen occurrences such as a fire. Data should also be kept within a firesafe for added protection.
4. Data backup is a key step in the process but a step which is often overlooked is checking all backups for data integrity. What this means is testing to make sure all the data you back up actually works.
The next step is to find out, just what type of backup solution fits your needs. First question would be, how much data do you need to backup? You will first need to start by finding out what data is truly vital to your company – what data you simply could not do without. Approximate the storage capacity as well as think about the future growth of your company. Here are a handful of backup options for most small companies:
1. Backing up over the internet to an off-site remote server. Internet up-speeds is the main factor to make this option feasible.
2. Mobile storage media backups. This method generally works well for small volumes of data. Options include transferring data to CDs or DVDs, DVDs being the more ideal choice in that it holds up to 4.7GBs of data as compared to 700MB’s for a single CD. External hard disk drives however are becoming the quick backup solutions many people choose because of its ease of use. Software is now available to automatically back up your data routinely. Storage capacities are now up to 400GBs within a small case allowing for portability to off-site locations.
3. RAID Server configurations is another option to protect your data. Hardware RAIDs can protect you from disk failure since data is actually striped across a set of disks improving throughput and protecting the data held on the array against the failure of any individual disk. There are multiple levels of RAID configurations such as RAID 0, 1, 2 and 5 which are the most popular. Each configuration will have its own benefits and drawbacks. Keep in mind, a RAID configuration is more complex and is susceptible to other human administrative errors as well as hardware failure so maintenance and knowledge of the technology is key for this option.
4. DAT and DLT tapes have and continue to be a feasible option for larger amounts of data.
Here is a list of reminders, actionable items for preventing data loss and data recovery.
-Back up regularly. Keep in fireproof safe and/or off-site
-Utilize anti-virus software regularly.
-Periodically check for data integrity within all backups.
-Direct accountability and responsibility to employees for backups.
-Consider using uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) for all important computers especially --systems which require graceful power downs.
-If a data recovery emergency does occur, power the machine down and call IntelliRecovery Data Recovery at 888-995-3282. Do not attempt to run any recovery utilities or continue to power the machine on or off - this will make matters worse and could potentially decrease your chance of recovery.
About IntelliRecovery, Inc.
IntelliRecovery, Inc.(http://www.intellirecovery.com/) is a global data recovery services provider for all types of computer storage media effected by hardware failure, human error, natural disasters, software corruption, and more. With experienced engineers, the latest recovery techniques/technology and a customer service oriented mentality, IntelliRecovery has stepped into the forefront as one of the leading data recovery providers worldwide.
