BACKUP AND RECOVERY
Backups - Why should you do them?
I often find that when I ask a client if they carry out regular backups, the answer is "no." Many will say, "I know I should but never get round to it." Or, "I don't really have much stuff to backup." This is perfectly understandable for several reasons. I think the biggest reason is maybe because the human brain perhaps was not designed to deal with the concept and people find it hard to imagine their data being here one minute and gone the next.
However, prevention is better than cure, and the issue we need to prevent is data loss. Here a some of the ways a good backup system can help anyone who stores computer data:
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Save you money and heartache
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Save you time and effort
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Save your business
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Possibly save your sanity
Data Loss
There are generally 3 basic routes to data loss and each can be split into different scenarios:
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Equipment failure - data is usually stored on a hard drive, solid-state drive or pen-drive. It's a case of if and not when. Like all equipment, these mass storage devices have a life span, plus hard drives can fail through overheating, excessive shock (being knocked or dropped) and mechanical failure. Most mass storage devices can fail through electrical faults and firmware issues. Failure from other components is less likely to cause data loss unless there's a serious power surge or the equipment blows up.
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Environmental - this can range from poor conditions such as extreme cold, heat, dust or humidity, to disasters such as fire or flood. If mass storage devices are completely damaged in a disaster, there is no way your data can be recovered.
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Criminal activity - theft of equipment is one type and this can also give the perpetrator access to your data. But there are other types of criminal damage whereby no one physically touches your devices. Malware and ransom attacks (the worst type in my opinion) are becoming common whereby either your data is erased by the malware or the attacker encrypts your data and demands payment within a certain time period. If paid, the thief may or may not keep to the agreement of decrypting your data; but if not, you will never be able to access your personal files again. Another type of ransom is System Lockout, but your data remains intact and it's the operating system that's been locked out by a password the criminal has entered. For further info, see here.
Data Recovery
In case you don't have a backup in place, and your mass storage device fails, I can assist in recovering 'lost' data, which I have a good success rate with. However, if the mass storage device in question is too damaged, I have connections with specialists who are experts at dealing with extremely bad hard drives etc..
Backup Strategies
By doing regular backups we can protect ourselves from equipment failure, environmental and criminal attacks. There are different sorts of backups and backup destinations. An 'on-site' backup to local storage such as a portable hard drive will protect against equipment failure and are capable of quickly backing up and restoring data. An 'offsite' or cloud backup will protect against environmental and criminal attacks. There is also the question of what is backed up. A fully integrated backup will also include the whole operating system, so that in the event of a disaster, the system can be completely recovered - even to new equipment in some cases.
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I setup backup strategies to suit the needs of my clients, (usually automated so they work in the background) thus providing the protection they need for their IT usage, whether it be business documents or domestic family photos and videos plus music collections.
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If you're concerned about the safety of your data or think you may have lost your personal/business files and folders, please don't hesitate to contact me. Remember - prevention is better than cure!