The Importance of Data Backups

All computers and their components are subject to failure. In fact sooner or later every business will be confronted with some type of computer failure. The largest threat to businesses during a failure will be some type of data loss or data corruption. While the causes of data loss and data corruption vary, not all are easily fixed.

When a data loss or data corruption occurs, many times the only option is to restore the data from a previously created backup of the affected data. Many businesses today over look the importance of data backups until they suffer the unexpected loss or corruption of valuable data. Once this occurs it would be too late, unless the business is lucky enough to restore the data by physically recreating all the affected files from scratch. This of course is only possible if they have a hard copy or another source from which to recreate the data. It will also cost the business a valuable amount of man hours in recreating the data as well. That is if they are lucky enough to be able to even recreate the data in the first place.

If your business has made backups of all data stored on the hard drives, restoring that data will go much more quickly and require a lot less effort. It will also require a lot less man hours and tears shed over the loss that has occurred.

Today there are many options available to businesses for storing and backing up their data. Some of the options available are tape drives and tape libraries, CD-R's and CD-RW's to DVD technologies. There is also the option to use NAS (Network Area Storage) and SAN (Storage Area Networks) and even remote backups over the internet. Even Windows XP/Server 2003 offers a restore point in case your system becomes corrupted. Of course just having these tools available to you is not enough. They need to be used properly and on a continuous basis to be effective.

Sooner or later all systems will face some type of failure that will require a restore from backup. The point is to perform those backups so they are there when you need them.

It is recommended that you sit down with your systems administrator to create a backup plan for your business immediately if you have not done so already. Also recommended, is that you review your backup plan yearly as well. When discussing your backup plan there are certain options to consider. Such as how often to perform the backups and what type of backup media is best suited for your business. Depending on your type of business and how much your data changes from day to day you may want to perform backups weekly, daily, or several times per day. For most small to mid-sized businesses I would recommend a full backup once per week with incremental backups at the end of each work day.

You will also want to consider whether or not to keep some of your backups off site in the case your business is affected by some type of natural or man made disaster. In addition you may also want software to monitor your backup process in order to ensure that your backups are not corrupted as well. This is a common experience with some types of backup media as well.

Finally you may also want to perform a system restore on an occasional basis so that you can check the effectiveness of the restoration process that you have set in place and to practice it so it goes as smoothly as possible.

Following these steps may be essential to your business continuity should your systems fail and you suffer a loss or corruption of data. Setting up a backup plan as well as a restoration plan will also go a long way in ensuring your business operations if you run into a system failure. This would help establish a "who is to do what" list if your systems should fail.

Failing to backup your business data, especially mission critical data is nothing short of a recipe for disaster. Nothing is as important to your business as the data that sits on the hard drives of your systems.

Copyright, Keith Erwood, Dynamic Network Technologies, © 2005 All Rights Reserved

Keith Erwood is the head consultant and owner of Dynamic Network Technologies, a computer consulting and services business in New York City. Visit us at Dynamic Network Technologies

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Data Recovery Information:

Related Articles

Data Recovery: Beginners Tips
Right now you probably in a lot of mental pain, and all you're concerned about is recovering your data as quickly as possible - so we'll refrain from comments on the wisdom of regular back ups. The time for preventative measures has gone - the issue at hand is data recovery.
Computer Data Backup - Data Backup Solution Will Give You A Peace Of Mind
Imagine that you have been working on a file for the entire day and there was a power surge that caused your computer to 'black out'. It would have been a frustrating experience for us as we had put in a lot of time and effort into it.
Protect Yourself Before Your Hard Drive Crashes
Almost everyone who has used a computer has experienced a hard drive problem at some point. Are you prepared to lose your data? If your hard drive crashes right now, do you have an action plan to follow?Most people get complacent about protecting the data on their computers.
Data Recovery - What Not to Do!
Data recovery is a tricky thing, and if you've somehowdeleted or had your important files corrupted or lost due tohuman error, business espionage, faulty hardware or softwareor any other reason; the good news is that your lost datais probably recoverable. This article will show you a fewthings NOT to do when an event such as this occurs.
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery - Risk Analysis and Control
In the risk evaluation phase, there are a number of key areas that must be covered. One of the most important is to understand probable threats.
Big Time Disaster Recovery Solutions Available for the Little Guy
There was a time - not too long ago - that Data Disaster Recovery solutions were available only in the domain of multinational corporations and big business in general. However, with the proliferation of high speed internet access and the ability to store large amounts of data in a much more cost effective manner due to plummeting storage costs, the ability to perform a secure backup of data to a remote location engineered specifically for the purpose of securely storing massive amounts of information is now in the reach of the general public.
How to Survive an Operating System Crash
"We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows could not be accessed or located."It happens to the best of us.
Avoiding Hard Disk Data Recovery Services
As a home computer owner, one of the greatest threats to yourinformation and to your wallet, is hard disk failure. When yourdrive crashes, you will quicky realize how valuable theinformation you can no longer access is.
Do You Have The One Key Ingredient Necessary For Disaster Recovery?
It is not rocket science, we all know that we should have a disaster recovery plan in place for our business regardless of its size. When disaster strikes, it seldom discriminates on the size of the company.
Data Recovery The Easy Way
If you aren't prepared in advance, you will most likely have to use a data recovery service or data recovery software solution to help get back as much as you can of what was lost. This can be a very good idea if there is no other way to recover your files, but it doesn't have to come to that in most cases.
Comparing Data Recovery Software
Software programmers recognize the importance of data files, and thankfully, they have been able to create products that demonstrate their understanding of how often people accidentally delete or lose important data. Thanks to software programmers and development companies, people have a variety of data recovery software programs available to purchase in the event they've lost vital data.
Read This Now: Its Not If You Will Lose Your Data, Its When Will You Lose Your Data
With Adware, SpyWare, E-Mail Viruses, Java Script Viruses and Hardware failures It isn't a matter of If you will loose your Data it is a matter of When you will loose your Data! By spending a few extra minutes now using a Simple Back Up Strategy, you can save yourself big headaches later.You Should Always have a Full Backup of your Online Business Directory and all it's subdirectories for the Last 4 Weeks as well daily incremental backups for a month or More.
Bill Gates Made Data Recovery Easy
Bill gates provided a ready made option in Microsoft windows, which is very useful for data recovery.Several time we make mistakes unknowingly and we lost our data, then we need to recover the data.
Disaster Recovery Made Easy With Online Backups
Whenever disaster strikes the most critical asset that every company should have protected from sudden loss due to fire, flooding, or theft is their data. No matter what happens to your hardware you can be sure to be able to be up and running no matter how sudden or how severe your damage or loss is - if you use an online backup system.
Backup Your Data Or Lose Your Life!
Oh the perils of collecting those precious photos on your PC for years, only to have your hard drive crash one day, and not have made a SINGLE BACKUP COPY of any of your priceless pictures. Well, now is the time to backup your hard drive.
How to Effectively Back Up Your Data
What to backup, and what to loseThe oldest "computer expression" is that there are two kinds of computer users, those that backup their data and those that will. Often, it takes a "data disaster" to compel otherwise responsible people to make a regular habit of backing up their data.
Data Recovery
Every person who uses a personal computer will eventually face the challenge of data recovery. Computer hardware and software can be temperamental from time to time.
Backup Schmackup: Im Afraid, Very Afraid!
"Why should you be afraid?", I can hear you ask.I just got an email from my friend Miche who said,"My laptop is sick at the hospital.
The Importance of Data Backups
All computers and their components are subject to failure. In fact sooner or later every business will be confronted with some type of computer failure.
Are The Words Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning Rolling Off Your Lips?
It might be more fun to talk about those free online business cards that are saving the company money, or those nifty designer business checks that are helping to solidif your branding efforts at the next staff meeting, but what really should be rolling off your lips are the words "business continuity and disaster recovery planning". Nothing is more important to a company than having a comprehensive recoveery plan in place prior to when disaster strikes.