Tag backup

Article (PSA-0022)
Submitted by: Billy Joe Long
Company: PSA Computer Services
Titled: Backup, Backup, Backup!
Original release date: March 10, 2023

Reliable backups are the backbone of your IT “Disaster Recovery Plan” and “Business Continuity Plan”. Catastrophe can hit any business, no-matter how small or big you are, and catastrophe can come in many forms such as: fire, hardware failure or “ransomware”. The more data lost, the greater the impact on your business. Part of getting your business back up and running after a disaster, is being able to restore operations to where they were before the problem occurred. Businesses who have learned the value of backups employ the 3-2-1-0 backup rule. Lets take a quick look at each one of these rules.

Rule 3: Maintain at least three copies of your data and applications. That’s the one copy you’re using and two backups. This way, if one of your backups is unavailable for any reason, you can still recover what you need in a reasonable amount of time.

Rule 2: Store your backups on at least two different types of media. One reason for this is each type of media has its own vulnerabilities, and you don’t want both of your backups susceptible to the same problem. By utilizing different media, you can reduce your exposure to the same incident preventing access to both of your backups.

Rule 1: Keep one of the backups in a different location. Consider a catastrophe at your business, such as a break-in, fire or natural disaster. If all of your backups are at the same location, they will all be affected. This can result in total data loss for your business.

Rule 0: Verify your recovery plan has zero errors. It is not uncommon for businesses to implement a backup plan but fail to verify it is performing as expected. Regular testing is critical to ensuring you can recover your business data and applications in the event of a disaster.

It doesn’t matter if you are a business or home computer user, if you have anything on your computer that matters to you, it is your responsibility to make sure you have a backup plan in place. In my 20+ years of experience in the IT industry I have seen brand new hard drives fail within 90 days of purchase. I have seen years of family pictures vanish by accidental deletion and I have seen “un-tested” backups fail to restore important business files – files which everybody “thought” were being backed up.

If you are unsure of your backup status, give PSA Computer Services a call at (707) 506-6802.

Additional information on backups:
High availability – following the backup rule
The Importance of Effective Data Backup

Article (PSA-0005)
Submitted by: Billy Joe Long
Company: PSA Computer Services
Titled: High availability – following the backup rule
Original release date: September 23, 2017
Updated date: August 16, 2019

[High Availability is a characteristic of a system, which aims to ensure an agreed level of operational performance, usually uptime, for a higher than normal period. Modernization has resulted in an increased reliance on these systems. For example, hospitals and data centers require high availability of their systems to perform routine daily activities. Availability refers to the ability of the user community to obtain a service or good, access the system, whether to submit new work, update or alter existing work, or collect the results of previous work. If a user cannot access the system, it is – from the users point of view – unavailable. Generally, the term downtime is used to refer to periods when a system is unavailable.] – Wikipedia.org

Reliable backups are one of the foundations of “high availability”. Catastrophe can hit any business, no-matter how small or big you are, and catastrophe can come in many forms such as: hardware failure or “ransomware”. The more data lost, the greater the impact on your business. Part of getting your business back up and running after a disaster, is being able to restore operations to where they were before the problem occurred. Businesses who have learned the value of backups employ the 3-2-1-0 rule.

3: Maintain at least three copies of your data and applications. That’s the one copy you’re using and two backups. This way, if one of your backups is unavailable for any reason, you can still recover what you need in a reasonable amount of time.

2: Store your backups on at least two different types of media. One reason for this is each type of media has its own vulnerabilities, and you don’t want both of our backups susceptible to the same problem. By utilizing different media, you can reduce your exposure to the same incident preventing access to both of your backups.

1: Keep one of the backups in a different location. Consider a catastrophe at your business, such as a break-in, fire or natural disaster. If all of your backups are at the same location, they will all be affected. This can result in total data loss for your business.

0: Verify your recovery plan has zero errors. It is not uncommon for businesses to implement a backup plan but fail to verify it is performing as expected. Regular testing is critical to ensuring you can recover your business data and applications in the event of disaster.

It doesn’t matter if you are a business or home computer user, if you have anything on your computer that matters to you, it is your responsibility to make sure you have a backup plan in place. In my 20+ years of experience in the IT industry I have seen brand new hard drives fail within 90 days of purchase. I have seen years of family pictures vanish by accidental deletion and I have seen “un-tested” backups fail to restore important business files – files which everybody “thought” were being backed up.

Article (PSA-0001)
Submitted by: Billy Joe Long
Company: PSA Computer Services
Original title: Is my data safe?
Retitled: The Importance of Effective Data Backup
Original release date: December 19, 2012

Life insurance, medical insurance, and retirement funds are all ways we try to ensure the things most important to us are protected. What about your data? Most of us store things like family pictures, legal documents, important thoughts and expensive software on our computers. How important is this data to you?

One way to gauge the importance of something is to imagine it is gone. So take a moment, and imagine your computer is gone. What would you miss? If you can honestly say, “Nothing!” then you can skip this article. If, on the other hand, you have a list forming in your mind of things you would miss, then please read on.

With so many backup ideas and tools floating around today, it can be difficult to know your files are safe. The intent of this article is to help you understand some basics about data backup, so you can know if your files are safely backed up or not. In the following scenarios, we are considering the ability to recover data in the event of a hard disk failure. Let’s consider three questions.

Question #1:

“Is my data safe if I copy it to another folder on my computer?”
No, your data is not safe. Consider the consequences of a failed hard disk. Not only is the original copy of your data inaccessible, but so is your “backup”!

An effective backup of your data requires, at a minimum, two copies of your data located on two separate storage medium. For example, you could have your original data on your computer’s hard disk, and a copy of your data on an external drive. Other possible backup media choices include: cd’s, dvd’s, usb flash drives, extra internal hard disk, network storage appliances, and online backup services.

Question #2:

“Is my data safe if I copy it to separate storage media?”
Using the example of a failed hard disk from question #1, let’s summarize the process of getting your computer back up and running. First we need to install a new hard disk. Next we install the operating system, hardware drivers, system updates and your favorite software. Finally we attempt to restore your data from your backup media … only to discover the backup is corrupt or incomplete!

Testing your backup for accuracy and integrity is critical. Just because the backup software says the job is complete does not necessarily mean the backup is useful. Take the time to test your backup now, and save yourself heartache in the future.

Question #3:

“Is my data safe if I copy it to backup media, and test the backup for accuracy?”
Consider the consequences of a catastrophic fire or natural disaster. Your computer has been destroyed and unfortunately so was the storage medium containing your backed-up data!

Your data should be stored safely “off-site”, or, at the very least, in a fire proof safe. Storing a copy of your data on an external storage media and testing your backup for accuracy and integrity is a good start, but in mission critical situations an “off-site” copy is a must!

How important are your files? By keeping a tested backup “off-site” you can rest assured that even in the event of the unthinkable your data will still be recoverable.

For more information on data backup or if you would like a consultation on your personal or business backup process give us a call..

Revisions

• December 19, 2012: Initial Publication
• November 11, 2015: Text Edits
• May 24, 2016: Rewording For Better Clarity