by Nick Pegley
http://www.allcovered.com/technology/security.asp
©
2009
Tomorrow? Next week? Six months or next year? It's
eventually going to happen - your company will experience system data loss from
an individual computer or server. The question is: are you prepared? American
Data Recovery reports:
* In the US, companies lose more
than twelve billion dollars a year due to data loss
* Seventy-eight
percent of this loss is due to system or hardware failure
*
Eleven percent is due to human error
* Sixty percent of
businesses that lose their data will close within six months
Companies
understand that they have to back-up their critical
data, but they're often
unaware that bad configuration and
maintenance, or procedures and policies
that are incomplete can
equate to massive costs in terms of both the time and
expense
required to recover lost data.
In a recent article,
Johanna Ambrosio of IT Computerworld
wrote, "I'd wager that most medium-size and smaller business do not do regular
backups. All this is going to change in the next year or two. Given regulatory
requirements, and the overall emphasis on security in our society as a whole,
even the smallest businesses can no longer afford to ignore backup."
When
backing up and recovering data, here are four key points that businesses should
consider:
1) What Should be Backed-Up?
Every
company should start with the most important information. This usually includes
such things as finance and accounting data, email correspondence, production and
manufacturing, prospects and clients, human resources, plans for projects, drawings,
artwork, and schematics. Data and documents stored on desktops or laptops are
often neglected by many companies. You'll need to determine what data your business
needs to back-up by asking yourself, "If we had a disaster that destroyed
everything, what information is critical to getting everything back up and running
in the least amount of time?"
2) What Type of Data
for Which Kind of Back-Up?
For backing up data and retrieving
it from desktops and servers, there are many options. The type of back-up system
you choose will depend on the type of data that you're backing-up. If the information
is static and changes rarely, such as schematics and artwork, archiving the info
to DVD or CD could be the best solution. For other info that tends to change frequently,
such as email, Word documents and spreadsheets, a better solution is tape backup.
Incremental and full back-ups are possible with tape backups. This level of granularity
lets data retrieval occur within a specific date range. Zip drives and other removable
media are probably best left for desktop and laptop computers. The key here is
that back-up be automatically scheduled - otherwise it simply won't happen.
3)
Restore the Back-Up and Verify/Test
Perhaps the most overlooked
aspect in the backup process is verifying and testing, omitted due to the cost
and time required. Below you will find some best practices for back-up solution
processes:
* Weekly. Don't just review the back-up logs.
Go into a restore view to see the entire list of files to back-up to verify.
*
Quarterly. Test your restoration efforts, starting with the most recent tape in
the rotation. Examine at least three kinds of files, such as a Word file, an Excel
speadsheet, and the admin mailbox. For each file you restore, select different
dates.
* Annually. Ensure your back-up system is fool-proof
by completing a full system restore to a blank hard drive or server.
4)
How Can Recovery Disasters be Avoided?
Here are some pitfalls
to avoid if you need to recover data after a disaster:
*
Having no access to a compatible hard drive, tape drive, and cables if the server
and tape drive are completely destroyed.
* Having no backup
software, software keys or password to begin the data restoration.
*
Using old, stretched tapes that aren't writing data cleanly.
*
Storing the tapes on-site at the business.
Any business
back-up plan should be a part of a larger business continuity or disaster recovery
plan.
