What gets your Backup?

World Backup Day

 March 31st is World Backup Day 2012. It is just one day a year set aside to remind everyone who uses computers of the importance of regularly backing up data which is stored on desktops, servers, and lots of portable devices. If you're in business and store critical business information such as client details and payroll you should have more than one back-up device and one of them really ought to be offsite. We don't wish to scare you but you should ask yourself WHEN (not IF) I lose my business data how will I cope.
If you need any advice on the subject please ring our office on 01904 409940.

Whether we want to be or not we all tend to live a more digital life these days and we really can't ignore or trust to luck that the enormous amount of data we create will look after itself. When the hard drive upon which all your data is stored fails it's gone, and more often than not it's gone for good. So, if your hard drive fails and you haven't been backing up your data that will have gone as well.
Let me tell you about hard drives.They are the component in your computer that has the highest chance of unexpectedly failing because the head unit in the hard drive hovers over a special disc that spins 7200 times a minute! One small bump is all it needs to send that head crashing into that spinning disc and although the crash is sometimes survivable the data on that drive rarely is, without you investing considerable expense on data recovery.

There's no mystery in backing-up once you've set up the process. There are several different methods to do this depending on how you want to backup and how safe you want to keep it.You can even set up multiple backups to better protect your files. However, the first step you need to take is to recognise the value of your data...even the loss of a telephone list can be problematical...and plan to automatically create multiple copies of this data.

Backing up your important data is easier than you think.

It's a good idea to backup files regularly and in at least two separate places, just to be safe. It's also wise to have a local backup and offsite backup locations. Although finding that your computer and one of your backups unrecoverable at the same time is very, very, unlikely, it's not out of the question. Backing up is a guaranteed way to ensure the safety of your most precious digital data, whether it be photos, videos or business documents. There are many different ways to back up the data most precious to you. We've detailed the three simplest and cheapest solutions below.

External hard drive

By far the quickest and easiest way to make copies of your important files. Go out and buy an external hard drive, with a large capacity. You'll find them in all good electronics or office supply shops. When you've bought the device and plugged it in, simply find the files you want to back up and drag/copy them onto your new drive. It's a good idea to do this regularly - you can even get an application that does this automatically.

DVD

Burning your important files to a CD, DVD or Blu-ray disc is a relatively cheap and easy way to back up important files. Assuming you already have a disc burner, you can generally just drag-n-drop your files into the included burning software and hit the burn button. Once they're done, take care to store the discs in a safe place to avoid them being scratched or damaged. Burning your files to disc takes much longer and is more inconvenient than copying them onto a hard drive, but can be more durable in the long run.

Online (or offsite) backup

Storing your files with an online storage provider is much easier than it sounds, and is possibly the most reliable way keeping your files safe. Many online storage providers offer a sizable amount of storage space for free.

This makes backup convenient and painless, as long as you have a reasonable internet connection. However, data recovery from sites can sometimes be very slow, as you have to re-download your files. Some companies, however, offer the option of shipping a hard drive to you with your data for a fee. Some online backup services also automatically create a local backup on an external hard drive in addition to uploading your data to an offsite backup datacentre. This makes it really simple to create a local and offsite backup automatically!

Should you feel it appropriate this is exactly the work Clearwave would perform on your behalf should you take out our Managed Backup Service for only a few pounds per month.It's safe, it's reliable,it's regular and it's great value for money so why not give me a ring on 01904 409940 and enjoy peace of mind with regard to your business data security.