Saturday, June 21, 2008
12:04 PM
What would happen if your business burned to the ground?
More than likely you are insured for the loss of structures and equipment (or should be). Aside from dealing with your insurance company, contractors and the like, to get your company back on its’ feet, you will still be faced with the loss of your business’ financial and customer data that was on your computer.
Have you taken any steps to secure the important business data on your computer(s) in the event that your computer gets destroyed or has a major non-repairable and fatal crash? Can you replace or reinstall the data that you will have lost due to such tragedies?
PROTECT CRITICAL DATA
I urge you to take steps to safeguard important data that is on your computer(s). The single most important thing that you can do to avert the loss of data on your computer is to religiously make back-ups of your computer hard drive on a regular basis. But, just backing up your computer data is not enough. Make multiple copies of the back-ups.
WHERE TO STORE BACKED-UP DATA
It is very important to store at least one copy of your computer back-up somewhere else besides your office. Keep at least one copy of your backed-up data in a separate location. I suggest keeping one copy of your computer back-up at your office and one copy of your back-up at home. Or, if your business is located in your home keep a copy of the back-up in a safety box at your bank or the home of a friend or relative.
WAYS TO BACK-UP YOUR DATA
EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES
During the past year or so external hard drives have dropped in price considerably. External hard drives connect to your computer by either a USB cable or Fire wire cable and are an easy addition. Many of the external hard drives that are available come with software for performing back-ups of your entire computer. If you buy an external hard drive I suggest that you buy one from a major manufacturer and check the packaging to see if it comes with back-up software.
The problem with using an external hard drive is that the new external hard drive will in all probability be connected to your computer and in your office. As a result, this type of data back-up will protect you in the event of a computer crash but will not save your data in the event of a fire or other disaster which could destroy your office unless you take the external hard drive to a location other than your office as outlined previously.
USB THUMB DRIVE (Jump Drives)
USB Thumb Drive (Jump Drives) do not have enough capacity to back up all of the files on your entire computer. However, you can use them to keep back-up copies of just your important financial data and customer information files.
Being small in size, thumb drives are an excellent affordable way to be able to store your back-up data files at your office and at a remote location. USB Thumb Drives are low cost and easily obtainable.
REMOTE ONLINE BACK-UP
There are companies that allow you to back-up your data via the Internet. Most, but not all, of these types of companies charge a monthly fee to store the backed up data on a secure server at their location.
Backing up your data in this way is a good in that it allows you to save your data at a remote location and still have it accessible from any computer that is connected to the Internet. The downside to backing up this way is that there are usually monthly charges and the fact the back-up must be transferred via the Internet. Backing up your entire computer via the Internet to a remote online back-up server can be a slow and very time consuming process. Just how slow depends of course on the speed at which you are connected to the Internet.
PURCHASING BACK-UP SOFTWARE
There are a number of software’s that you can purchased to automate the process of backing up your data. Most allow you to schedule the back-up during the middle of the night when your computer is otherwise idle.
Most of these back-up software’s have a wizard which will partition your existing hard drive and will store your back-up to the partition of your hard drive that is created to hold the back-up. I however do not suggest backing up data to a partition on your primary hard drive, because if you have a fatal computer crash you may not be able to access your hard drive and hence not be able to access your back-up.
DVD’s and CD’s
You can burn a DVD or CD that contains your critical data files or to back-up your entire hard drive. Not all, but most DVD and CD burning software offer the option of burning back up discs. Backing up your entire hard drive will, in all probability, require multiple DVD’s. So, before you use this method to back up your information and data, ensure that you have a supply of discs on hand. If you back-up just critical financial and customer data files they will probably fit on just one DVD.
DVD’s containing your back-up data can easily be stored at a remote location. The cost is of course relatively insignificant. I suggest using re-writable DVD’s or CD’s for back up purposes. Read the Help section of your DVD or CD burning program to learn how to use your particular burning software to make back-ups.
SCHEDULE BACK-UPS
I hope that this Newsletter has gotten you to think about and gets you to back up your data. Use which ever process works best for you. The important thing to remember is to back-up on a regular and continuing basis.
Though it takes time to do the back-ups it can save you money and a lot of time and headaches in the event of an emergency. Getting your business back to its’ normal productive state after a catastrophe is hard enough without having to deal with worrying about data recovery.
THANK YOU
Thanks for taking the time to read the Tom Rumish Website Development Blog. I hope that you’ve found it helpful and educational. It is because I want you, and your business to be successful and work more efficiently that I write this Blog.
Take a look at the “How-To Articles” page of the Tom Rumish Website Development website from time to time. There are articles on that page that may be helpful to you and your business. New Articles are added to the “How-To Articles” page on a relatively regular basis.
If you or someone that you know is considering having a website created I would appreciate the opportunity to give you a free consultation and estimate. Many questions about affordable small business web site design and maintenance can be answered by visiting the Tom Rumish Website Development website at www.tomrum.com/ however it is impossible for me to cover everything on my website. Being able to answer your questions is the primary reasons that I offer no obligation web site consultations.
More than likely you are insured for the loss of structures and equipment (or should be). Aside from dealing with your insurance company, contractors and the like, to get your company back on its’ feet, you will still be faced with the loss of your business’ financial and customer data that was on your computer.
Have you taken any steps to secure the important business data on your computer(s) in the event that your computer gets destroyed or has a major non-repairable and fatal crash? Can you replace or reinstall the data that you will have lost due to such tragedies?
PROTECT CRITICAL DATA
I urge you to take steps to safeguard important data that is on your computer(s). The single most important thing that you can do to avert the loss of data on your computer is to religiously make back-ups of your computer hard drive on a regular basis. But, just backing up your computer data is not enough. Make multiple copies of the back-ups.
WHERE TO STORE BACKED-UP DATA
It is very important to store at least one copy of your computer back-up somewhere else besides your office. Keep at least one copy of your backed-up data in a separate location. I suggest keeping one copy of your computer back-up at your office and one copy of your back-up at home. Or, if your business is located in your home keep a copy of the back-up in a safety box at your bank or the home of a friend or relative.
WAYS TO BACK-UP YOUR DATA
EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES
During the past year or so external hard drives have dropped in price considerably. External hard drives connect to your computer by either a USB cable or Fire wire cable and are an easy addition. Many of the external hard drives that are available come with software for performing back-ups of your entire computer. If you buy an external hard drive I suggest that you buy one from a major manufacturer and check the packaging to see if it comes with back-up software.
The problem with using an external hard drive is that the new external hard drive will in all probability be connected to your computer and in your office. As a result, this type of data back-up will protect you in the event of a computer crash but will not save your data in the event of a fire or other disaster which could destroy your office unless you take the external hard drive to a location other than your office as outlined previously.
USB THUMB DRIVE (Jump Drives)
USB Thumb Drive (Jump Drives) do not have enough capacity to back up all of the files on your entire computer. However, you can use them to keep back-up copies of just your important financial data and customer information files.
Being small in size, thumb drives are an excellent affordable way to be able to store your back-up data files at your office and at a remote location. USB Thumb Drives are low cost and easily obtainable.
REMOTE ONLINE BACK-UP
There are companies that allow you to back-up your data via the Internet. Most, but not all, of these types of companies charge a monthly fee to store the backed up data on a secure server at their location.
Backing up your data in this way is a good in that it allows you to save your data at a remote location and still have it accessible from any computer that is connected to the Internet. The downside to backing up this way is that there are usually monthly charges and the fact the back-up must be transferred via the Internet. Backing up your entire computer via the Internet to a remote online back-up server can be a slow and very time consuming process. Just how slow depends of course on the speed at which you are connected to the Internet.
PURCHASING BACK-UP SOFTWARE
There are a number of software’s that you can purchased to automate the process of backing up your data. Most allow you to schedule the back-up during the middle of the night when your computer is otherwise idle.
Most of these back-up software’s have a wizard which will partition your existing hard drive and will store your back-up to the partition of your hard drive that is created to hold the back-up. I however do not suggest backing up data to a partition on your primary hard drive, because if you have a fatal computer crash you may not be able to access your hard drive and hence not be able to access your back-up.
DVD’s and CD’s
You can burn a DVD or CD that contains your critical data files or to back-up your entire hard drive. Not all, but most DVD and CD burning software offer the option of burning back up discs. Backing up your entire hard drive will, in all probability, require multiple DVD’s. So, before you use this method to back up your information and data, ensure that you have a supply of discs on hand. If you back-up just critical financial and customer data files they will probably fit on just one DVD.
DVD’s containing your back-up data can easily be stored at a remote location. The cost is of course relatively insignificant. I suggest using re-writable DVD’s or CD’s for back up purposes. Read the Help section of your DVD or CD burning program to learn how to use your particular burning software to make back-ups.
SCHEDULE BACK-UPS
I hope that this Newsletter has gotten you to think about and gets you to back up your data. Use which ever process works best for you. The important thing to remember is to back-up on a regular and continuing basis.
Though it takes time to do the back-ups it can save you money and a lot of time and headaches in the event of an emergency. Getting your business back to its’ normal productive state after a catastrophe is hard enough without having to deal with worrying about data recovery.
THANK YOU
Thanks for taking the time to read the Tom Rumish Website Development Blog. I hope that you’ve found it helpful and educational. It is because I want you, and your business to be successful and work more efficiently that I write this Blog.
Take a look at the “How-To Articles” page of the Tom Rumish Website Development website from time to time. There are articles on that page that may be helpful to you and your business. New Articles are added to the “How-To Articles” page on a relatively regular basis.
If you or someone that you know is considering having a website created I would appreciate the opportunity to give you a free consultation and estimate. Many questions about affordable small business web site design and maintenance can be answered by visiting the Tom Rumish Website Development website at www.tomrum.com/ however it is impossible for me to cover everything on my website. Being able to answer your questions is the primary reasons that I offer no obligation web site consultations.