Sfg – the Key to Effectively Backing Up Your Data

08. July 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Backup · Tags: , , , , ,

Most computer users have lost count of the times important files are lost when a disk drive fails or back-up disk is mislaid.

Putting a back up strategy in to action is imperative for everyone who stores valuable business and personal data on a computer.

Firstly, any system based on keeping data in one physical place like your home or office will fail.

Data disasters do happen – and it’s not uncommon for two disks to fail simultaneously, like in a power cut, or for your backup system to be stolen or destroyed by flood or fire.

Forget tape back ups. Tapes stretch and distort over time and are not reliable in the long term.
You need to adopt a professional SFG system – SFG stands for son. father and grandfather.

The son is the hard drive on your server. This is the data drive for your network and all users should only access this drive to create, edit or delete files.

The father is another hard drive attached to your network that mirrors the data drive on your server. Backup software on your server is configured to instantly overwrite any changes to files held by the son.

The grandfather is a remote online backup service that holds all your important data at a secure server. The father backs up to your grandfather.

With these fail safes in place, if the son and/or father hard drives are inaccessible for any reason, all you need is a computer connected to the internet to restore your network data.
Specialist back up software on your server and the remote server generally keep backups for 30 days, so if you have accidently edited or erased a vital file, you should be able to catch your error.

SFG backup systems are relatively inexpensive. You can buy a terrabyte hard drive (1000 gigabytes) for a few hundred pounds and the price is steadily reducing.

Hundreds of companies are offering online backup services. Some are free for low personal use but you receive better features and more storage space if you pay. Expect to fork out about £1-£2 per gigabyte of storage.

Home users can back up their entire computer, including operating system, and program files for a few pounds. If the computer is lost, just plug in the new one and download the missing computer’s entire disk drive and start working again exactly where you left off.

This article was written by eCommerce Associates Limited for eCommerce Associates for Mcafee Downloads Internet Security

eCommerce Associates work with some of the UK’s top merchants and brands in
the affiliate market. eCommerce eCommerce Associates work with some of the UK’s top merchants and brands i the affiliate market. eCommerce Associates have three blog sites http://ecommerce-associates.info/ , http://leisure-activities.blogware.com/blog and http://financial-news.org.uk/ where all of our articles can be viewed.

How to Backup your Computer Properly

04. July 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Backup · Tags: , , , ,

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.

So Are You Prepared To Lose Your Data?

03. July 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Backup · Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

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.

Important Reasons Why you Should Use an Online Data Storage Backup Service

02. July 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Backup · Tags: , , , , ,

If you have any type of business or store important documents on your computer, you should think about using an online data storage backup service. I know you are wondering why you would need an online data storage service when hard drives are capable of storage such large amounts of information. But even with the bigger hard drives it is quite possible to fill them up. Videos, pictures and audio files take a lot of space on your hard drive. Keep reading to discover more reasons why you should consider an online data storage backup service.

First of all, you should always back up your important files and documents. If you don’t then you are just asking for trouble. There have been many people that have lost important information because they failed to backup the information. A lot of people will attempt to backup their files on a CD or a Zip drive. But the problem here is where are you going to store these files?

If you use an external storage drive and you store it in the same area as your computer, what will happen if you have a fire or other major disaster? Chances are your computer and your external storage drive can be destroyed. So in essence your information is no safer than if you just stored it on your computer’s hard drive.

It is just not fire or a major natural disaster that you should worry about. There are a lot of viruses running rampant that can invade your computer. If it gets into your business server, it can work its way through all of your computers and wipe out critical information that could virtually wipe out your business. If you store all of your information on an online data storage backup server, then the risk of this happening is very low.

Another great feature of an online data storage backup service is that it gives you the ability to share photos, video clips and music with your family and friends. You can do this securely and easily. So not only can you make sure that your important information is stored securely, you can choose what you want to share with others.

With an online data storage backup service you will have the ability to access your files from any computer. These servers use a secure web based interface to keep your information safe from prying eyes. What’s great about these data storage services is that they are very affordable. They are also very reliable.

So if you are looking for a solution for your data storage problems, consider an online data storage backup service. Don’t put your business or your personal information at risk by storing all your important files on a physical storage drive that can be destroyed. Keep it safe and retrieve it whenever you need to. Use an online data storage backup service and sleep easy at night.

By the way, you can find out more about Online Data Storage Backup as well as much more information on everything to do with data storage and recovery at http://www.DataStorageA-Z.com

Do You Backup All of the Digital Pictures You Keep On Your Computer?

30. June 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Backup · Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I met a young man last April who came to Maui for the summer and ended up extending his break for another semester. He was having a great time, exploring the island, sailing, snorkeling and scuba diving, hiking in the crater of Haleakala, our dormant volcano, camping and hiking in the rainforests of Hana, and of course, enjoying the beach and the spectacular Pacific sunsets. To top it off, he lived in a house with 4 house-mates from his school that was right on the ocean side of Front Street in Lahaina. Needless to say, this is a popular place for barbecues, beach volleyball and parties!
He had an “awesome” digital camera and recorded all of his adventures in pictures, which he stored on his state-of-the-art laptop computer. He had literally hundreds of pictures and videos of beautiful sunsets, friends enjoying good times, spectacular pools and waterfalls, you know, just all of the great things that a vacation on one of the most beautiful places in the world has to offer.
Near the end of his 8 months here on the island, after a party that went well into the early hours of the morning, he woke to discover that his laptop had been stolen from his living room. He was really ticked about the violation of his personal space, and aggravated by the loss of his personal property.
But, he was ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATED from the loss of ALL of his photographs and videos of his stay on the island. You see, he had no backup system, be it flash card, CD, DVD, whatever. He didn’t have them stored anywhere else but on his computer. They were all just GONE in an instant.
That got me to thinking about how I’d feel if I lost all of my photos: family, my son at the various stages between 0 and 20 years of age, places I’ve traveled on and off of Maui, before-and-after home project photos, etc. I realized that I should back up my photos, at least, not to mention all the other valuable information I keep on my computer.
I looked into some of the methods out there, and discovered online digital backup. There are many advantages to this method because it will protect you against loss whether it’s human, as in error, stupidity, laziness or crime. But, in addition, there are forces of nature that can threaten the security of your computer documents. Storms, causing flooding and power outages, electric company blunders or problems that cause power surges, earthquakes and …I’m sure you get the idea. Another thing is that these natural disasters can threaten even backup media if they’re stored in the same vicinity as your computer.

If you want to gain the peace of mind that your precious photos and documents are protected against loss using <a href=”http://dreamsinmocean.blogspot.com” rel=”nofollow”>Remote data backup, read the following for more information on the best option out there at my blog http://dreamsinmocean.blogspot.com.

Tips for Choosing Backup Software

21. June 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Backup · Tags: , , , , , ,

How in the world do you decide what type of computer backup software to use? There are many different types of software out there. Some of it will need to be purchased separately, but there are also programs that come bundled with the computer backup hardware that you will be using. While these are not always the best programs, they still get the job done – although without all the usual bells and whistles. They are also likely to be better than some of the programs that you get with external hard drives for example.

Of course, you do not need backup software in order to backup your computer. You can always just go into it with some CDRs or DVDs and manually choose exactly which files to save and which ones to leave behind. However, this can rapidly get tedious and it’s easy to skip over or forget certain files or folders – that’s the very last thing you want to happen in case of a hard drive failure.

There are many benefits to using a proper computer backup package and these are seriously worth considering.

First, automatic setup. The computer will set up the information for backup automatically. Therefore, all you have to do is make sure that there is a disc in the drive. Likewise, you can also split large files across several discs with ease and without constantly having to change configuration information in the backup software itself.

If you’re worried about the confidentiality of your saved backups, you can also encrypt the information. This is especially important if you are going to be using any of the online backup options. You can also compress your data with a data backup program, in order to fit large amounts of data into a small backup space. Backup software will also allow you to choose exactly how much data you want to backup, and how long you are willing for it to take.

Do I have to buy software?

No. There are several programs that you can get for free – or that you already have for free with your new computer. For example, if you have a windows computer, you will have software called Microsoft Backup. This should be installed by default if you have Windows 2000, ME, or XP. You may also have this program available on your system discs if you have a computer that runs Windows 95 or 98.

If you are running a Macintosh system, however, there is also an option available to you. This is the Apple Backup software. This software should be included with whatever operating system you’re running. That way, you can easily make a backup of all the important data on your computer. With an Apple computer, you can back up your information without waiting to get CDs! Apple offers an online backup service called iDisk. The iDisk service allows you to backup up to 100MB of data online! You can also set your iDisk to synchronize between your computer and the online backup – so that you have the most current versions of all your files.

If you don’t like the software that comes with your computer, there are also free software programs that will come with any external hard drives you purchase. These backup programs are generally designed to do only one thing, however. With just a few quick mouse button clicks, you should be able to put all of your computer data onto the external drive.

Make this job easy and save your data! Use some backup software and save yourself a lot of grief and personal time.

Using the right backup software for your computer is essential in the whole data backup process. Learn more today at BackupAdvice dot com.

Data Backup in Web Hosting Industry

20. June 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Backup · Tags: , , ,

Data is very important in any business whether it is online or offline. Data stored in your server cannot be lost as it puts a full stop to your business. If you lose data then you have to spend a lot money, time and effort to replace them. In some critical applications it is not even easy to replace the data. Hence a wise decision is to find some ways to retain your data. This is where Back-up comes into picture.

Data back-up is a process in which you save your valuable data to some remote server or in some media which can be used to restore them back when you need it. You may face situations in which you application becomes corrupt or your data file is corrupted. Intentional damage, natural disasters, and hardware failure are some of the other situations which makes your lose your data. During such situations you can use the data that is backed up in your remote server to restore.

A periodic backup is necessary so that you do not lose much data when a contingency occurs. Data backup in web hosting industry is common and is also a must, since they face a lot of contingencies mentioned above. With ever increasing viruses and worms you may not when you will lose your data. Hence taking backup of your data is a must in these days.

Any web hosting account that you purchase also comes up with a comprehensive backup scheme that can be used to backup the important data that you might have in the server. If you have a site that has many users (members), then it is important that you also backup the data of your users also. Under such situations it is better to backup the site data and the users’ data separately so that you can restore which ever you want.

A backup can be incremental or full backup. Full backup is to take a backup of all the data available in the site, whereas the incremental backup is to take a backup of the data that has changed since the last backup. It takes a lot of time and space to take a full backup of your site. Backup is taken usually in the tar format or the .gz format. Taking backups in these formats saves a lot of space and time.

Most of the web hosting services provides a backup plan which could be monthly, weekly, or daily basis. The data thus backed up is stored offline on a secure server. Some services charge you for the backup services provided by them. Some of the hosting providers provide you the necessary tools to take a backup so that you can schedule backup on your own. If your site has critical data then hourly backup can also be sought after. Such exclusive backups are charged by the hosting provider.

Hence taking a backup of the important data and the site is important in the web hosting industry so that the website can be restored in the minimum time with minimum interruption to the users.

Author recommends <a href=”http://www.marblehost.com” rel=”nofollow”>web hosting provided by Marble Host. Marble Host offers daily data back-up and 99.9% uptime guarantee. Visit http://www.marblehost.com for more information.

Hey Folks, We Need Backup Here. Quickly.

20. June 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Backup · Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

You know that you should back your data up. But you still don’t
because you don’t know what to get. Here is the overview of four
budget backup solutions that I’ve personally used and can vouch
for.

Acronis True Image 8.0 (Acronis)

Acronis True Image allows you to create an exact disk image for
complete system backup and disk cloning providing the most
comprehensive data protection. The disk backup file contains the
exact copy of a hard disk, including all the computer data,
operating system, and programs. After a system crash you can
restore the entire system or simply replace lost files and
folders from your disk backup, so you don’t need to reinstall
Windows. Acronis True Image 8.0 is quite speedy, creating an
image of a 46 gig partition in approximately 8 minutes with
little compression. Restoring a complete image can be a lot
longer than creating one, but with the built in Rescue Media
Builder, its as easy as booting from that CD, telling it where
the image is, and what partition to restore it to. You can
wander off for dinner or TV and reboot your computer to the
image you have saved, ready to go in roughly 30 minutes for an
80 gig drive. The time to save and restore images is hard to
estimate here because larger partitions and more compression
takes longer then a smaller partition and no compression.

Genie Backup Manager Professional (Genie Soft)

Genie Backup Manager Professional is a very easy to use yet
powerful and flexible software that can backup and restore
files, documents, emails, settings, programs and more to
virtually any local or remote device including internal and
external hard disks, FTP locations, across network, CD/DVD
discs, removable media, memory sticks, and tapes. GBM Pro is
perfect for users of all computer comfort levels. Novice users
will find it easy to create their first backup job in matter of
minutes after installing the software, thanks to its intuitive
wizard-based user interface, while advanced users will
appreciate the software’s extended flexibility and features such
as preserving NTFS Alternative Data Streams, Email notification,
Self executable backup sets, and scripting capabilities
(GRunScript and GenieScript).

HandyBackup (Novosoft)

HandyBackup is so easy, you might actually find yourself backing
data up. HandyBackup is designed for an automatic backup of your
critical data virtually to any type of storage media including
CD-RW devices and remote FTP servers. You can use HandyBackup to
make a reserve copy of any valuable data on your system. Special
addons are provided to facilitate the backup of MS Outlook,
system registry and ICQ files. Restoring is as easy as clicking
a button, but you can also use a number of advanced options. The
program can be also used to synchronize files between two
computers on a network.

HandyBackup is designed for MS Windows 9x/NT/2000/ME/XP. Strong
file encryption and multi-choice zip compression on the fly, as
well as many other useful features, will protect your valuable
data. All backup activities are recorded in a log file. Detailed
online help is available, which is always nice.

Backup4All (Softland)

The software performs all four fundamental backup types: full
backup, differential backup, incremental backup and mirror
backup. Using the wizard you can easily set up any backup
configuration you wish. You can define powerful file filters and
schedule your backups any way you want. Once a backup is
performed, you can see what files have been changed since the
last backup using the explorer-like tree view or you can read
the statistics about the next backup execution. You can use the
context menu from the tree to run standard actions associated
with the file type. I now use Backup4all to do my day-to-day
backup, and I recommend it for those who want a more automated
solution. It uses its own file catalog to keep track of what’s
been backed up and when. That’s the only completely reliable way
to do it — you can sometimes miss files with other methods.

Another safety feature – all files and subfolders are included
unless you expressly exclude them (by unchecking). This means
that if new files or subfolders are added to a folder, the next
backup will pick them up as well. Not all backup programs work
this way. Once in a while you may not want to back up a file
that has been added to a folder, and if you forget to exclude
it, it will be backed up anyway. Better to have backed up and
not meant to, than not to have backed up at all.

Download Links

Acronis http://www.deprice.com/acronistrueimage.htm

GBM Pro http://www.deprice.com/geniebackupmanagerprofessional.htm

HandyBackup http://www.deprice.com/handybackup.htm

Backup4All http://www.deprice.com/backup4all.ht

Mozy – the Ultimate Online Backup Solution?

15. June 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Backup · Tags: , , , ,

Data backup is something that you just can’t take for granted anymore. The risks from viruses, spyware and computer hardware problems are so many and so varied that not keeping at least one copy of your computer data backed up is just asking for the worst kind of trouble. Being protective of your data and having a data backup policy or procedure is no longer just in the domain of system administrators in big companies. Nope. Home users should now also have their own data protection policy. You no longer have a choice.

Most people tend to look at storing their data on DVDs or external hard drives. This in itself is a positive step in terms of data backup – you’re protecting your data from harm. There’s one single and massive flaw in backing up your data in this way. It’s still stored where you live or work and is at risk from fire, flood, theft, electrical storms or just plain old hardware failure. Any of these can wipe out all those carefully created backup sets in a few moments.

Is there a solution? Of course there is – using a remote or online backup service to keep a second copy of your absolutely mission critical data. This ensures that no matter what type of crisis might ruin the data you have stored locally the remote copy will always be safe and available to restore within a few moments if you need to.

So where can you find a reliable online backup service? This is where most people run into problems. There are lots of “pretenders” out there – companies who claim to offer great service and features and always fall short on pretty much every count. Then along came Mozy and everything changed.

Mozy is, without doubt, the best online file backup service I’ve ever seen or used. It’s very easy-to-setup, offers a free starter package, works flawlessly from within firewalls, is extremely configurable and runs scheduled incremental backups whenever you want it to. The application itself is tiny and doesn’t take over 90% of your processing power (unless you configure it that way) and is easy-to-use for even the most novice computer user. Mozy is sleek and powerful – unlike some of the awful online backup services that exist on the market today.

If you really do value your data then you’ll need to keep multiple copies of it and ideally keep one copy stored online so that you can restore it whenever or wherever you need to. Mozy fits the bill perfectly in that regard and comes highly, highly recommended.

Storing your data only in your home or office is just asking for trouble. If you really want to avoid disaster then you’ll need to use an online backup service sooner rather than later. This article was written and provided by Niall Roche of BackupAdvice dot com

Online Backups – Storing your Files Remotely

15. June 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Backup · Tags: , , , , , ,

There is one major problem with most computer backup procedures. Usually after a backup is made, all of the information and data stays in the same place as it always was. However, there are many disasters that could befall your data and computer that make it worthwhile to look into online backups as a precautionary measure. Online data backups will allow you to save a copy of your file or files in a hard drive that cannot be destroyed at the same time as your computer. This way, even if you experience theft or a natural disaster such as a fire or flood you will still have your data.

Is it safe?

Many people are a little bit unsure of putting their data online. After all, if the information can be accessed by them from any computer, doesn’t that mean that the data can be accessed by everybody? Yes and no. While it is theoretically possible for a different person to get into your data as it is stored through an online data backup, the chances of this actually happening are slim to none as long as you’re using a reputable service.

You also have the option of doing something on your end to make sure that the data stays secure. If you can get your hands on any backup software that can encrypt the data, then you should do this. Encrypted data cannot be stolen without considerable effort. Just make sure that you remember what program you used to encrypt it in the first place.

Are online backups easy to use?

Yes! Online data backup services generally only require that you upload the files that you want saved. Then, the files are saved for you, and that’s it! As you can imagine, online data backup services are becoming more and more widespread. You should also be able to access your online data backup from anywhere in the world. While I do not recommend using this as your only form of data backup I highly recommend using an online data back solution as part of a holistic approach to data security.

How fast are they?

This is going to depend by and large on the type of internet connnection that you have. If you are still going online with a dialup connection, then you should not look into this type of data backup. It will just take far too long to get your backup done, and during that time, you could easily have just put all the files onto DVDs and give them to a friend for safekeeping. If you have a high speed internet connection – either cable or DSL, then you’re in luck and this will not be a problem at all. Just log in, get an account, and upload to your heart’s content.

How much space will you have?

This is going to depend on the backup service that you choose in the end. However, most of the spaces available range between about 100MB and several GB of space with most of them offering at least 1GB of storage space to get started with.

Online data backups are going to become an absolute necessity for the smart computer owner. I wouldn’t live without one and use mine every single day at the very least.

Finding a reliable online data backup service doesn’t need to be a nightmare. Check out BackupAdvice dot com today for more information and advice.
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