Recover with a Backup System
A Backup Article Contributed by Melissa Larose
Recover with a Backup System
The hard and fast rule of computing should be the existence of a backup system and the performance of regular data backups. Data is growing at a faster and faster pace. The need for backup is becoming more and more critical with data growth. The larger that hard drive is, the more data it hold, the bigger the loss if something should happen to it. Perhaps it's because of the enormity of data and its possible loss that we as people procrastinate in protecting it with a backup system.
Or maybe it is because we just do not understand the value the data holds for us and for our businesses. Either reason does not negate the need for a backup system. In fact either reason highlights the need for data backup.
Backup System Anatomy
The basic parts of a backup system are the software used to manage the backup and the hardware used to store the backups. The choice of either software or hardware is dependent on what your data needs are. Establishing the value of your data and the procedures and processes your company relies on can direct you toward an appropriate solution.
Business location, seasonal threats from Mother Nature, sensitivity of your data that might invite hackers and damage to data, criticality of data for daily customer interaction, all of these things have some bearing on the choices you need to make.
Backup System Software
Backup system software should give you the greatest autonomy possible. When searching for the right software look for products that fit your operating system and allow you to make choices about your data. You will want the ability to backup single files or groups of files, databases, folders, and software. You want the ability to choose where these items are copied to and whether or not they are encrypted and secure.
Backup of data should not be the only goal in the backup process. You have a whole network of software that needs to be protected also. Imagine a scenario where your whole IT system is destroyed, say a tree fell through your office during a hurricane and destroyed your servers by landing on them. Not only that but the water damage renders the whole system and all the PC's unusable ever with no way to recover the data. What then?
Preparing for such an occasion means a backup of the complete network, operating system and all utility and application software too. In fact, the whole network configuration can be part of a backup. Your chosen software should be able to accommodate this type of backup.
Backup System Tips
Cost effectiveness and efficiency should be part of the backup system you design. Comprehensive backups are necessary once to establish the system in backup format and then anytime changes are made to the system. This doesn't mean you backup the network every time you backup data files. Your backup system software should allow you to be selective. Being selective can bring costs down and efficiency up.
