Everyone knows that critical company data
held on computers should be backed up, correct? Well, many businesses,
particularly smaller ones, still do not back up information contained on their
key computer systems. As a result, many businesses suffer considerable, (but
often not calculated) losses when their computer systems fail, and data is
lost.
The methods of backing up data are varied,
depending on the size of the computer system(s) involved, the networking
technology used, and most importantly, the total amount of information that
needs to be backed up. The facilities available range from backing up to a
writable CD (capable of holding up to 700Mb), tape systems (typically capable
of storing many gigabytes of information), to large system disk arrays
(multiple, linked hard disks of similar or large capacity to the main network
disk drives, that are used to duplicate information contained on the primary
file server disk(s), creating back up copies of information online, in real
time).
Whatever hardware solution your organisation
uses (you do have a solution, don’t you?), it is just as critical to make sure
that the process is tested regularly. This is designed to ensure that the back
up, which maybe carried out in an unattended mode overnight, actually does
succeed and “real” data is being backed up.
We have experienced situations where a
company has been backing up its critical systems for years, but on the one
occasion when it was necessary to restore lost information, it was found that
the tape drives were not functioning correctly, and the back up tapes were in
fact, blank.
Another important factor is to ensure that
the back up media (assuming it is not a disk array as described above), is
stored in a secure place, remote from the main system. Again, there have been
instances where back up copies of critical data have been lost in a fire,
together with the main system, because the back up media was kept in the same
physical location, sometimes adjacent to the main system.
Larger companies often decide to store their
critical back up media off-site in secure locations. There are many companies
who specialise in providing these facilities. However, when it comes to
retrieving and restoring lost critical information, this can also become a
major headache, since time is often of the essence
If you require help in planning an
appropriate back-up regime for your organisation, please call Alan Finch on 01224 697457 for expert advice.
