Upon backing up my files(every thing on my PC), using Wizard or Advanced, getting problem with file name!
It appears like:
The back up file name could not be used. “E:/backup.bkf” Please ensure it is a valid path and that you have sufficient access. I just don’t get it! What kind of a name am i supposed to use? OR, what am i doing wrong?
As you can see, I’m choosing drive E to burn and when choosing name( any! ), that ridiculous thing pops up!
PS. I’m using Mozy Remote back up for now.
Thanks for any help and suggestions.
The following quotes are real quotes from webhosting forums such as Free Web Space. Take a few seconds and read them and then think if they relate to you.
Hi, do you know what has happened to XXXXX webhost. They have been down for 10 days and I ain’t heard anything.
Does anyone know what happened to XXX Datacenter ?
This is a very common thing that I hear and I will only hear it more during the summer. Nowadays, anyone can setup a website and host one but very often people will choose a free webhost that is setup due to some teenager being bored during the summer.
With as little as £8, you can buy a reseller account and start giving away free hosting to anyone that wants it. Normally, these teenagers believes they will get rich doing it and while it can be a quick buck but it normally involved the person who buys it then sees it is not making money and gets rid of it.
This then leaves the average people who got that free webhosting screwed over as they have lost their website and very often, with no backup either.
Now this blog post isn’t about who the best free host but it is what to do to prepare yourself encase it happens.
Step 1
The first thing to do is NOT to use a subdomain that your new host might give you. Instead get your own domain or at least a subdomain like co.cc or one of the many from afraid.org. The reason being is that if your host does down, you will still be in control of the domain or subdomain which means you won’t lose all the backlinks you have gained.
Step 2
ALWAYS backup. Backup the backups. The reason behind making sure to backup your website is that if your host dies and leaves you without your files, you will at least have a backup of your website that you can then restore at another host later on.
Backing up a website is annoying but you can often setup a CRON to backup your website and then send it to another location in which at least, your backup can stay for the short turn. If you need a remote location to backup your website, go to – adrive.com and sign up for a free account.
Now, the best place for your backup to be is on your own hard drive so once you have backed up, download that backup to your hard drive. Now, if you backed up remotely every day, you don’t need to download the backup every day (While, it would be better too) but I have find that if you download the newest one every week, you will be fine.
Once, it is on your hard drive, what you do then is up to you. Such examples are to burn it to a CD and keep them in storage incase something happens, or even to just show off to the world that you have a backup.
Should you do all this and if your web host dies, you can just move on with little downtime.
Written by Matthew Kyle Tweek Broflovski Ellis © 2008
Expert in Computing Security and Computing Forenics
Matthew Kyle Tweek Broflovski Ellis is an expert in Computing Security and Computing Forenics.
He enjoys programming and mostly focus on improving web security for servers so that people can have a happy time on the World Wide Web.
He enjoys programming and mostly focus on improving web security for servers so that people can have a happy time on the World Wide Web.
The one negative/funny experience that my wife Kari and I had in San Fran happened to be our “romantic dinner night”.
We were highly recommended to dine at Cafe Kati in the Pacific Heights Area.
A quaint little restaurant with eclectic taste, narrow hallways, dark exotic walls and the faint aromas of delectable dishes. We even got the best table, with the best view, thanks to reserving online. We ordered a nice bottle of Merlot, some peanut crusted prawns for appetizers and I ordered the miso glazed black bass in a dashi broth for my main course.
Yum!
Watching the other dinners come out and be delivered to the other guests was purely teasing and only builds the hunger pains.
The wine was excellent, and the prawns were to die for.
NOW we were really looking forward to the main course.
Until…
BANG! CLANG, CLATTER, BANG
Pots and pans went a flying in the kitchen area, someone could be heard screaming in frustration. Something BIG was up.
Not quite sure what was happening, we kept enjoying our wine until I noticed a mass exodus of our fellow patrons. Just then the waitress comes over and says…
“You have to leave NOW! Our chef/owner is having a really bad day and is closing up for the night.”
Then she gave us the bill for the wine and appetizers!
So we had to guzzle our $50 bottle of wine – and walk out in search of some dinner.
Not impressed.
Now, what happens to a business that has no backup plan in this kind of situation?
#1 someone like myself goes online and tells the world about our bad experience remember http://www.cafekati.com – who knows how many people may read this, or hear of this from others.
#2 they have received a formal complaint from us
#3 I have told everyone we know this story… yes, it is funny, but I would never go there again
#4 10 tables x 2 at each table = 20 people who each tell 10 people = now you have 200 people at a minimum who know the chef at this place is a flake!
and…
#5 the person who recommended me there (all the way from Calgary Canada) now knows and will never tell anyone else again about this place. And he knows a lot of people!
Total damage done = massive.
What could they have done?
They should have had a backup plan in place. Backup staff, chefs, whatever… find a way to keep the doors open and serve your guests. And NEVER ask them to pay for the crappy service you gave them. You should bribe them to come back not charge them for abusing them.
What do YOU have in place for your business for backup?
What would happen if your computers disappeared over night?
What would happen if you fell ill for 3 months?
You must think about your backup plan – if you don’t the damage can be massive and take you years to overcome.
Think about what COULD happen… then make sure it doesn’t!
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Use the following link to apply for 10% discount price for Acronis True Image Echo Workstation
Overview:Backup software for the entire office network or a local computer. In comparison with Acronis True Image Home 2009 – Acronis True Image Echo Workstation allows you manage backup and restore tasks on remote computers, supports dynamic disks, backup to virtual machine, consolidate archives and much more. With Acronis True Image Echo Workstation you can:
- Create full drive or file/folder backup; – Clone the whole system to another disk drive (model, vendor and size of new destination drive doesn’t matter); – Consolidate archive. Create a copy of a backup archive, the copied backup archive will contain only those backups from the source archive which you are manually selected; – Convert backup to virtual disk format; – Backup to tape drives; – Backup and restore remote computers using Management Console. Features: – Acronis Group Server. Ease administration by viewing the status of all systems in the network; – Acronis Backup Server. Ensure optimal usage of storage resources by allowing IT administrators to establish backup policies. – Create dynamic volumes. Convert basic discs to dynamic disks and create dynamic volumes on dynamic disks; – Mount/Explore an image; – Schedule backup task; – Protect backup with password and set encryption (AES 128, 192,256); – Exclude the following files/folders from the image: system, hidden, MS SQL database files, MS Exchange database files; – Database support. You can specify a command (or a path to an executable file) that will suspend database work for a short period of time required for making a snapshot of the data being backed up. See user guide for examples; – Select different compression levels for backup creation; – Fast Incremental/Differential backups. You can speed up the incremental or differential backup process; – Archive splitting. You can speed up the incremental or differential backup process. To increase the speed, select Use fast incremental/differential backup; – File level security settings. Specify whether to preserve security settings of the files in archive. Otherwise, while restoring the files, their security settings will be set to default values; – Error handling. You can configure error handling settings for the backup creation process: ignore bad sectors, do not show error messages and dialogs while processing, if an error occurs reattempt it (you can set the time); – Dual destination backup. Specify location, which will be used for storing a copy of a backup, which is created on Acronis Secure Zone; – Specify Mass Storage Drivers on restore. If you have a mass storage controller (such as a SCSI, RAID, or Fibre Channel adapter) for your hard disk, you can install this driver manually, bypassing the automatic driver search-and-install procedure; – Acronis Startup Recovery Manager. Boot your computer after a failure to start the recovery process simply by selecting the F11 key, even if your operating system has failed; – Media Builder. Create Acronis bootable disc within the program, use it in case system is completely unbootable to restore the image; – Acronis Secure Zone. Protect your system by saving an image to a special hidden partition on your hard disk where it can be retrieved after a disaster. Supported OS: – Microsoft Windows Vista (all versions and editions); – Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition; – Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP 4; – Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP 2; – Citrix Xen Source Supported file systems: FAT16/32, NTFS, Linux Ext2, Ext3, ReiserFS, and Linux SWAP. Special sector-by-sector support for other partitions and corrupted file systems. Supported storage media: – Hard disk drives – Networked storage devices – CD-R(W) – DVD-RW, DVD+R(W) – ZIP, Rev and other removable media – P-ATA (IDE), S-ATA, SCSI, IEEE1394 (Firewire) and USB 1.1 / 2.0 drives, PC card storage devices. Minimum system requirements: – Pentium processor or higher – 256 MB RAM – CD-RW or DVD-RW drive for bootable media creation – Disk space: 300 Mb – Extra disk space for installation: 600 Mb
We’ve all had that personal experience of losing hundreds of files and hours of work due to a computer crash right at the most inconvenient moment. Imagine a crash like that affecting a company that holds information computers pertinent to the survival of its place in the market. Backing up data, therefore, is not a new idea to come to the great minds of business owners and technical gurus, especially those that work with data centers. There are however, options that will suit different businesses in different ways, and having a working knowledge of the various backup solutions available will help guide the company in the right direction when it comes to avoiding such a great loss.
When choosing a backup storage solution, things to consider are:Just how much data are we talking about? It may be that simpler methods won’t do in your case, at least not in the long run.
Will the data be expanding? If so, choose an option that will grow with you and can be more adaptable to your needs as things take a different form.Are we dealing with top-notch security items? If accountability is important and you can’t afford the slightest possibility of a machine blowing up for one reason or another, don’t compromise – get the best there is.Is this a group effort? If different people working from different computers in company will need access to the same information at any given time during the day, you could save yourself a lot of trouble by preparing for that in advance.Have enough pocket change? Depending on the size of your business, it may be that budget concerns will mark the end of the argument – buy as you need until you can afford (and actually require) more.
Backup storage solutions in a data center come in three forms: Direct Attached Storage (DAS), Network Attached Storage (NAS) and Storage Area Network (SAN).DAS is the most basic and commonly-used type of backup system. External hard drives that attach to your home computer and allow you to plop memory onto them are examples of DAS. What you save stays on one server, and copies of those files also nest in the same server, but on a separate drive. That way, if your main drive gives you problems, or you do a reformatting, you always have an extra copy just to be safe. If your company is a small, local one (i.e. without branches physically distant from each other) DAS may be your simple, one-step solution. The down side is that your server may get extra busy storing files and running applications at the same time, which can slow things down. However, on the upside, when problems do occur, they can be dealt with in-house on the attached server. Keep in mind though that DAS is limited in capacity and once memory space runs out, it’s out. If your company is growing, DAS may only be a temporary solution to your backup needs.NAS is a solution that puts memory on a server separate from where applications are running. This increases speed and allows multiple users to access information from a hub. As indicated by its name, NAS runs on a network, and is therefore more suitable to businesses using networked computing. Its popularity has greatly increased, especially in light of its cost-decreases and return on investment. Management of the file storing server can be handled centrally in one location and not affect multiple servers that are being used for applications while maintenance is going on. Especially for computing systems in an office using multiple operating systems, NAS can act as a neutral file-sharing component to give access to work done by employees across the board.SAN is an over-the-top backup system designed for very large businesses that require the ultimate in quickly transferring many files at the same time and connecting over long distances through a fiber channel. This method, though highly optimized, is still in development and lacks an across-the-board compatibility agreement that would make it more usable in the long run. Since it is more complex than either DAS or NAS, it usually falls as an option to those who can afford its novelty. Web-based companies, or those that conduct transactions online might require SAN backup because of the high level and frequency of data traffic.
Luckily, no matter what decision is made between the three, remember that often multiple systems can, and are often, used in conjunction with one another. For example, a company running DAS may also have NAS for certain operations. NAS can also appear where SAN is prominent. The first step would be determining the computing necessities of your businesses, and then assessing which backup system or combination of which, would suit you best.
Analysts indicate that most computer failures are related to operating systems and applications. IT engineers are often required to undo accidental or other errors that cause a system to malfunction. Even the most reliable computer system is subject to problems arising from user mistakes, lost files, virus attacks, sabotage and unwanted changes. Ask yourself how quickly can you resume business in case of major failures? Radix Reload is revolutionary software that now makes possible to “turn-back-time” and undo all software failures in 30 seconds – with the press of a button! Reload prevents damage and loses, regardless of the cause of the failure and extent of the damages. Reload enables users to store periodical system snapshots in good working condition. In the event of failure, even if Windows cannot be launched, user can load clean a snapshot and undo all failures instantly. Alternately, IT engineers can load the password-protected ‘master snapshot’ of the fine-tuned original state (baseline image) and restore the computer to its original working condition instantly. Radix Instant Recovery solutions are already safeguarding computers at thousands of corporate and institutions, throughout the world, minimizing computer downtime and service calls.Failures Reload instantly repairs • System boot-up failures • Crashed Windows operating system and registry errors (blue screens) • Hard disk repartition or reformat • Deleted or overwritten files • Altered system or configuration settings • Damage by viruses and other hostile elements that have penetrated security Main benefits • Raise level of computers’ stability without limiting users’ flexibility • Save endless hours of system restoration and tune-up work • Surf the web freely and open e-mail without fear of viruses or spywares • Experience new software without worrying about the consequences • Instantly optimize PC’s configuration and settings for the current job • Turn-back-time after deleting or overwriting critical files • Maximize users’ productivity and minimize wasted resources • Prevent access to data even while away from the office security umbrella • Minimize service calls and dependence on available technical support • Update local or remote computers without disturbing users • Free your IT staff for high priority tasks • Return on investment (ROI) after first failure Instant system and data recovery Radix Reload turns any computer into a ‘self-repairing machine’, enabling instant recovery with a single command. With Radix Reload installed, users restore their failed computers and undo all unwanted changes in 20 seconds. Eliminate hours of system re-installation and re-configurations and prevent business interruptions even while away from IT support and the office security umbrella. Radix Reload instantly restores your PC to any preset state! Disk Image backup Reload enables fast and easy image backup to external devices such as USB disk; network drive and optical media, and easily creates a bootable rescue CD. In the event of failure, user can load the image backup and quickly restore his computer system. Data security Reload adds an effective data security layer, locks the computer and prevents unauthorized access to data. A strong authentication system and optional data encryption algorithm guarantees that no one can access the protected data, even if the computer has been stolen and the disk installed in another computer. Remote Control An authorized IT engineer can perform vast maintenance tasks for multiple computers simultaneously, without disturbing the users or the active jobs – via a remote command. Radix – Your First and Last Lines of Defense! Reload is primarily designed for IT administrators who are faced with the constant pressure of running complex systems, and for users whose computer failures have negative impact on productivity, and waiting hours for IT engineers to bring their computers back to working condition is not an option. Everybody deserves a Radix Reload! Rich features and versatile implementation make Radix Reload a product suitable for use in many market segments. To help you chose the best product for your needs, we’ve highlighted the features for the following categories. To learn how your organization can benefit from Radix Reload please contact Radix. Service Providers Technical support for today’s complex systems require a high level of technical expertise and considerable repair time in case of failure. Radix Reload enables even novice service engineers to restore failed systems in a few seconds and eliminate major failures with local or remote command, regardless the number of failed systems and extent of the damage. Installing the Reload without user privileges, enables service providers to reduce considerable burden and expenses related to -SLA systems - without losing dependency on provider’s services. System Builders Computer manufacturers warrant new computers against hardware failures. Software failures in most cases are handled by reinstalling the master image, a process that restores factory settings, but also eliminates user’s data and makes unhappy customers. Radix Reload provides bullet-proof protection for the factory settings and continuous protection for user data (without requiring hidden partition or extra space). With Reload installed, authorized persons have the option to restore the system and data to pre-failure condition, or restore original factory settings and instantly eliminate all changes made by the user. Corporate IT Today’s security and backup solutions, such as disk imaging, anti-virus and Firewall require complex settings, and consume considerable handling time. Nevertheless they do not prevent system down time and business losses in case of user errors; bad updates patches; new viruses and other threats penetrating security. Radix Reload enables IT administrators to instantly store periodical snapshots for multiple protected systems. In case of failure, Radix Reload restores pre-failure conditions and instantly eliminates all unwanted changes for multiple computers simultaneously. It is the last line of defence that complements any backup and security plan. Laptop Users Laptop computers are subject to failures and business down time while operating away from technical support centres and the office security umbrella. They make an easy target for thieves and business data spies, especially when left unguarded at hotel rooms, at home or in a car. Radix Reload instant recovery and Radix kSafe strong encryption algorithms add effective protection and security layers, prevent unauthorized access to data and provide instant recovery in case of failure. With Radix protection installed, data is fully secured and inaccessible, even if the computer falls into the wrong hands. Small Business Even small businesses rely on computers. With today’s tight market schedules, dependence on technology and lack of in-house IT support, makes it tremendously critical to control, or better, prevent damages caused by computer failures. Radix Reload enables users to restore failed computers in 30 seconds – with one click, and turn a potential catastrophe into an event that never happened. All this, without having to know anything about the cause of the failure or the ways to solve it, without having to wait for technical support, or suffer from business down time. Education Computers Analysts indicate that most computer downtime is related to operating system crashes and software application failures. Technicians are often required to repair failures accidentally caused by inexperienced users, or damaged intentionally by bored and frustrated students. In many cases, failure recurs just minutes after repair. With Radix Reload installed, teachers can restore failed computers in 30 seconds with the press of a button and recover major damage during class time – without have to know anything about the cause of the problem or wait for available technical support. Embedded Computers Special-purpose computers control the system they are embedded in. Failure of computers embedded in systems such as industrial machines; Point-of-Sale machines; communication devices; information kiosks and even appliances – usually translate into service down time. Radix Reload enables users and administrator to instantly restore failed computers embedded in systems and appliances – with local or remote command, even if the operating system won’t start and even if the computer is embedded in an appliance or closed chassis, without keyboard, monitor or pointing device. Home Computers Even the most reliable computer system is subject to failure arising from user errors, lost data, viruses and configuration changes. PC users spend considerable time and resources on PC repair, software re-installation and system re-configurations. Radix Reload turns any computer into a ‘self-repairing machine’, enabling instant recovery with one-click. With Radix Reload installed, even inexperienced computer users can restore their failed computers and undo major failures and all unwanted changes in 30 seconds without having to reinstall the software or carry their computers to service labs over and over again. Please visit http://www.radix-int.com for more information
Radix is a leading developer of:
Instant Recovery products: www.radix-int.com/reload.php
Classroom management and collaboration: www.radix-int.com/smartclass.php
Encryption software: www.radix-int.com/ksafe.php
Your computer likely cost you hundreds – maybe even thousands of dollars. That’s one thing that you’re sure to worry about if anything happens to the computer itself. However, there’s another cost that is far higher than a few hundred dollars – the data that is on the computer.
Depending on the type of work that you do on your computer, whether you have a home office, or just a personal computer, the data can be priceless. From digital pictures of cherished family events to years of financial records, you could lose everything with just one hard drive failure. Sure, it’ll be relatively inexpensive to replace the hard drive, but how will you replace the data that you’ve lost?
In fact, backing up the data on your computer is something that you should start immediately. After all, a power surge or failure could happen at any time, and this is a good way to be prepared. When you consider that 22 billion dollars will be lost due to data failure each year, having a good, solid backup seems like a good idea. Businesses that suffer severe data loss usually go out of business within the next year – up to 70% of them!
Besides immediately, when should you back up your data? The answer is “as often as is necessary.” If you add or update a lot of data every day, then you should probably be making a small backup of that information at the end of the day, and then doing a major backup at the end of the week.
If you have a small personal computer and you do not do very much each day, then your backup schedule does not have to be as strenuous. In that case, you may only need to back up the entire computer once a month, though you should always make sure that you have an extra copy of any new files when you add them to your computer.
What types of backup materials are best for you? This depends on how large your system is, and what you intend on backing up. CD-Rs can be good for short-term, or for backing up smaller files. These are very inexpensive discs, and you can fit 700MB of data on each one. However, if you are going to be backing up larger files, then you should look into another method. DVD+R and DVD-R discs are good for backing up files up to 4.7 GB. You can also use DVDs for backups that are up to about 8GB if they are dual-layer and you have a dual-layer DVD writer.
Another popular option includes external hard drives. The benefit of these is that they are relatively quick to write to, and can be up to 500GB in size and are highly portable and efficient as a means of data storage.
Finally, you can also back up your data online if you have a high speed internet connection and can afford to purchase an online data backup service.
Depending on the type of backup you’re going to make, you may need backup software. This software is designed to back up everything that you need backed up and is the ideal way to make a full system backup. Just make sure that you are close enough to switch out discs if you are saving your data to CDs or DVDs!
Do not wait until it is too late! It is very easy to save your data. Making CD or DVD backups of your most important data can be done for a few dollars and in a few minutes. This is definitely a good time investment!
Keeping copies of your valuable personal data is more important than ever with current online and physical threats in the world around us. Learn how to backup your computer the right way today @ BackupAdvice dot com.
Companies must account and deal for new legislation governing how information is stored on IT systems.
The EU is shortly to adopt many of the recommendations on corporate governance set out by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the US, UK firms are to be expected to deal with and manage explicit guidelines on how to store email and other documents on their IT systems. IT managers should consider the necessary procedures and technologies needed for compliance now, in order ensure technology is able to deal with the new legislation.
Regulations regarding data storage at the moment are fairly lax, but there will be a huge increase in the amount of data than must be held over the next 18 months to two years.
Email archiving, the increased use of expencive write-once read-many media, information lifecycle management and content-aware storage as a few of the technologies which firms should consider for the future, though in some cases companies will simply need to improve the way they manage existing systems.
It is anticipated that new legislations will demand that an organizations’ archiving solutions must guarantee that the information they hold has not been changed, and keep it for a specific period of time before automatically deleting it.
A survey of 493 companies in the UK has shown that compliance with regulations has a high or fairly significant impact on the data storage strategies of 87% of the organisations surveyed. Back-up and recovery was also very important to the data protection strategy of 93% of organisations.
78% of organisations future storage strategy is set to include Disk-to-Disk-to-Tape technology. This may be due to the highly affordable and flexible nature of this new technology. For example, recent deployments of disk-to-disk-to-tape (D2D2T) solutions by various companies have, on average, reduced the backup window by more than 70%, from fifteen hours to less than four, yielding significant time and cost savings in tape management.
Interestingly, product features were far more important than the brand of the product, with 82% of organisations making a decision based on product features. When it came to the decision of choosing a specialist storage supplier or a general IT provider for storage solutions there was a very slight preference for specialised storage suppliers (51%) over general IT providers (49%).
This survey shows that compliance with regulations is a key driver in companies’ storage security policy and that we are likely to see more companies deploying Disk to Disk to Tape technology in the future.
All the above is fine if you are a corporate, you have an annual IT budget of £500,000 and numerous members of staff who can plan and complete such a system. Is it very easy to talk about SANs, NAS’s Virtual Tape Libaries. Organisations of this nature already have a very stable and flexible infrastructure, where it is comparably easier to implement such a system.
What about the 1000′s of smaller companies such as solicitors, accountants, medical practices and manufactures etc, which may have only 2 servers on site, but still have the same reliance on data and have to adhere to the same legislations? Backup to tape is an option, however, there is an upfront cost and a requirement for a trusted member of staff to take the tapes off site every night and store in a safe place. Can you guarantee your backup has worked, and do you really trust your long term data on magnetic media? Another option is to archive your data onto optical devices, however the cost is even more prohibitive than tape and you still need to take the disk offsite.
No doubt your data is growing quickly; recently enforced legislations makes sure of this, so why not employ a backup and archival solution which has no upfront cost, is fully automated, secure and regardless of disaster will ensure your data is always available, Offsite Backup.
For further
information how offsite backup can help your company, please visitwww.perfectbackup.co.uk
information how offsite backup can help your company, please visitwww.perfectbackup.co.uk
Computers affect the way we live, communicate, work, and entertain today more than ever before. So, the information stored on them becomes very significant. Loosing data from your hard drive is at least unpleasant, but in some cases also very expensive. At the same time, not all of us take measures to protect their data. Moreover, day after day we hear about alarming accidents of data loss. But why reliable backup strategies are not as much widespread as data crash accidents? – Perhaps, because people have some wrong notions about backup software and about the problem of data loss in general.
Precious personal and work data is stored in a computer’s hard disk, but no hard disk is perfect. Sometimes they die, and so does the information stored. Furthermore, viruses, human errors and even natural disasters or theft can take away your data without any chance of restoring. One reliable solution for the problem of data loss is backup software that makes reserve copies of your critical data automatically. There is a great variety of such data-safe program to choose from. But why do people still ignore this software?
In this article we’ll try to denote some possible reasons of ignoring backup software and to destroy some myths about backup preventing people from using it. We have summarized these notions in four common «myths» and will try to expose them.• Myth 1: The risk of data loss is insignificant
Some people believe that data loss is not their problem.
Why don’t they care? Because they just know nothing about possible crucial hardware faults and destructive effect of such faults on the stored information.
Actually, there are high risks of data loss. According to the survey conducted by Verio (Global Premier Provider of Online Services), fifty-three percent of respondents have already experienced an actual loss of information that was stored on a PC. Six percent of PCs will suffer an episode of data loss in any given year. 31% of PC users have ever lost all of their files due to events beyond their control.
The reasons of losing data may vary greatly – power faults, short life of the hardware, viruses or hacker attacks… The fact is: you can irretrievably lose the information stored on your home or work computer (i.e. project data, email correspondence, personal information, irreparable and urgent documents) if the hard disk crashes.
Learn by others’ mistakes: thoughtless attitude toward data backup has fatal consequences. Most people and organizations come to understand this only after loosing their crucial data accidentally. With special backup software your data is more likely to be always on hand.• Myth 2: Copying files manually is more effective
Some people are aware of the risk of data loss and try to deal with this problem without special backup software. These people protect the data on their own.
Common practice for such people is copying data to digital media occasionally. In other words, they copy their data without any backup software. Of course, it is better than nothing. But is it enough for guaranteed data protection? You can simply forget to make a backup before a hard disk fault, and your previous backup work will become sheer waste of time. Moreover, you can forget to copy some files which you may need most of all after data loss.
With special backup software you can use automated procedures for regular backup and synchronization under your own schedule. Backup software will do all the routine work on copying files for you, you only need to set what, when and where you wish to backup.
In other words, manual copying of files is not as reliable and comfortable as using special data backup software.• Myth 3: Backup software sufficiently slows down computer performance
Some people think that backup jobs require too much hardware resources (space on a disk and CPU time) and it is tiresome to run them often. They suspect that backup software will impede using computer for work, entertainment or other purposes.
In fact, most backup programs are not resource-consuming. A typical backup program requires only operation system installed and about 5 Mb free disk space for program files. So, if your computer meets these requirements you have nothing to worry about. In other words, if you computer can have an operation system running, it will easily run a backup program.
Moreover, with a scheduler you can set your backup operations execution on the most convenient time. For example, during lunch time or when you sleep. Moreover, some backup programs can run in service mode. In service mode, the backup is independent from the currently logged in user. The benefit is that your backup tasks are processed even if somebody else is using the system at the moment or if nobody is logged in at all.
As you see, with a good backup program you can perform reserve copying operations in any time you wish. It means that you can have backups running when you are idle, and they will not interfere with your work.• Myth 4: Using backup software is difficult, time-consuming and expensive
Imaginary difficulties of data backup procedures make users think about backup as a waste of time and money and as the result refuse it, hoping for the best.
We are busy at work, family and friends fill our days and leave us little time for boring things like computer maintenance. But backing up data is much easier than it seems.
Please forget fairy tales about baffling complexity of backup programs! Most of backup programs have Wizards with intuitive user interface which let you configure your backup task with ease.
A typical backup program can be installed within several minutes. Setting a backup task takes several minutes more. That’s all. Then the backup program will take care of your crucial data.
After all, the price of such a program (30-70$ for single license) is far less then the costs of data loss.
We have tried to expose some myths about backup and to mark some positive abilities that backup software gives us. Today’s backup software offers comfortable way to make reserve copies of your crucial data. As more people get familiar with automated backup solutions, they tend to become must-have software, along with e-mail clients, word processors and anti-virus programs.
Alexey Spiridonov is a staff writer for SoftLogica covering personal technology. He studies Sociology at Novosibirsk State University in Russia.
Author’s website: http://www.backuprepublic.com/
Author’s website: http://www.backuprepublic.com/
Of course not, but I read threads every day from businesses (on various Internet forums) that have lost their data because their website violated the Terms of Services (TOS) of their host. Often their sites are taken down without notice. Some scenarios were because the client didn’t keep their security patches up-to-date, then were hacked. Others were because they were using a shared IP and that IP was blacklisted for spam violations – maybe not that specific IP – just in that range.
So are you prepared to lose your data?
Seems like a ridiculous question, but many aren’t prepared because they have no plan beyond simply trusting that their web host will provide back ups if necessary. I write about disaster recovery moreso than any other topic because of the severity related to losing mission critical data. More often than not, if you lose your data, you lose your business – or it’s severely impacted.
When selecting a web host, read their Terms of Service carefully – they’re there to protect the host and you, spelling out legal expectations. Regardless, use due diligence to formulate a disaster recovery and business continuity plan that includes routinely scheduled remote offsite backup. Prepare for a worst case scenario.
I relate this to car or health insurance. I hate to pay that bill each month, but I know it’s for my own protection. If you’re the owner or president of your company, you owe it to your clients and employees to secure your business. Stuff happens. It can and does happen to businesses just like yours everyday.
Multiple hard drives in a RAID array fail simultaneously (defective lot). You thought RAID was your backup solution, but turns out – it wasn’t.
Fire destroys your servers and DAT tape drive. You forgot to take that tape offsite last night.
Web host locks access to your server because your bookkeeper didn’t pay the bill. I see lots of posts related to this where the recommendation generally is – be nice to the host and maybe they’ll let you have access to your data.
Bottom line
Set aside some time to review and update your disaster recovery and business continuity plan if you have one. If you don’t have one – keep your fingers crossed and hope that Murphys Law passes you by and hits that business down the street first.
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