| Safeguarding your computer against data loss and | | | | methods can also be notoriously unreliable. Any time |
| system failure risks should be a high priority for your | | | | you have to rely on someone else (or yourself) to |
| business. Data is the life blood of any company. | | | | get the work done you are going to be inconsistent |
| Unfortunately, despite the advances in technology, | | | | in your results. And if you are not taking your tapes |
| many businesses are still not backing up their data | | | | to a safe and secure site every night after work you |
| and that is a big problem. If you showed up for work | | | | are still putting your data at risk. |
| one day and all your data was gone what would you | | | | Many business owners like online data backup |
| do? What immediate and long-term impacts would | | | | services because they eliminate all the risks |
| that have on your bottom line? Would you be able to | | | | associated with manual backup methods. Business |
| recover your data? How much would it cost? | | | | data backups are automatic, safe, fast, and cost |
| Data loss can come from a number of sources and | | | | effective. They are great for people who are |
| some of the most common sources include: human | | | | non-technical; all you need is an internet connection |
| errors, file corruption, computer viruses, power | | | | and a good online service. |
| failures, computer theft, disgruntled employees, heat, | | | | The biggest risk associated with an online backup |
| moisture, dust and hard drive crashes. Other causes | | | | service is in picking the wrong one. Not all services |
| of data loss are from fire, floods, tornadoes and | | | | are appropriate for a business. There are a lot of |
| hurricanes depending upon which part of the country | | | | consumer-class backup services that warn the |
| you may live in. While a hurricane or tornado may | | | | subscriber that they are not appropriate for business |
| never happen where you live, it is a given fact that | | | | data backups. If you read the "User Agreement" |
| all hard drives will eventually fail. There are two types | | | | clause they will warn you that their service should |
| of computer users: those that have lost data and | | | | not be used for "business data backup." |
| those that will. The main point here is that you have | | | | Other risks associated with a consumer-class backup |
| to be prepared before disaster strikes. | | | | service includes: insufficient bandwidths, inability to |
| What options are available for business data backup? | | | | restore data quickly, poor reliability and lack of |
| You basically have two choices. You may either use | | | | support. Most consumer-class offsite backup services |
| a manual backup method which consists of External | | | | have little to no support. A quality business-class |
| Drives, CDs, DVDs, Zip Drives, NAS Drives, San | | | | service will offer you support 24/7 with a real person |
| Drives, or Raid Drives; or you may use an online | | | | to talk to when you need it. |
| remote data backup service that backs up your data | | | | In summary, the easiest way to nuclear proof your |
| automatically. | | | | data is to utilize an online remote data backup |
| The problem with manual backup methods is that | | | | service. Make sure the business has been around for |
| they require you or an employee of yours to | | | | awhile and the service is business-class, not |
| physically do the work or the backups are not going | | | | consumer-class. |
| to happen. They can be very expensive to install and | | | | Do your homework. Check the service out. Their |
| maintain. Tapes for a tape drive can run you any | | | | backup clients in their testimonials should include |
| where from $50 to over $100 per day. Manual | | | | names you recognize and respect. |