The other day Jim wrote about the excellent and free Paragon backup software, but how can you use this as part of an overall regime to minimise the risk of ever losing your data?

Why Bother?

Every year 31% of PC users suffer from serious data loss, and 90% of companies who cannot recover their data go out of business within two years. Large organisations spend a lot of time and effort protecting their valuable information, but 25% of small and medium sized businesses don’t take backups at all.

I have personally experienced this. Some years ago my laptop failed to start up when the hard disk was damaged and no data could be recovered. I lost all the photos of a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. I vowed never again to be so un-prepared. Around 20% of new laptops will have a hardware failure within three years.

Many ways to fail

Before you can design an effective backup approach you need to understand the scenarios to protect against. There are three main situations where you will be glad of a backup.

1. Loss of a specific file due to deletion, over-writing or corruption

Modern operating systems like Windows and Mac OSX try and protect you from accidental deletion by putting things into the Recycle Bin/Trash Can first. This doesn’t always help though. A scenario I have encountered several times is opening a file to use as a template for a new document, making changes and then clicking “Save” instead of “Save As” therefore losing the original.

2. Hardware failure

Data is stored on hard disks and they are fragile they are the most likely part of your computer to break. Sometime it is possible to recover the data, but not always and it’s expensive.

3. Catastrophe – Flood, Fire, Theft etc.

If your office burned down, would you still be able to access your most essential data? Email is often stored online and may be recoverable. However, even when backups are being done, they are often kept alongside the computer being backed up and so would be lost too.

Divide and conquor

To cover these different scenarios we have different requirements. To protect against scenario one, multiple versions of files must be kept over time. To protect against scenario two the entire system must be backed up. And to protect against scenario three the data must be kept in different location.

The solution described here uses two backups to cover all these disasters; a combination of an online backup service and system imaging software.

LEVEL 1 backup – complete and onsite

If your system suffers a failure, you can bet it will be at the most inopportune moment. A key client proposal will be due in at the end of the week, or you need to work on an important presentation for two days time. In business time can really be money. This is where having a system image from last night will save you.

The system image is a complete copy of your hard drive; including Windows, the applications installed, all the settings, everything. Without this it will likely take you several days to get your system back how it was and be productive again.

By using software like Paragon and an external hard drive, you can schedule a system image to be taken every night. When the worst happens all you need to is buy and install a replacement disk, then Paragon will reverse the process and copy everything back, getting you fully up and running in an hour or so.

If you have an Apple Mac, I would recommend SuperDuper, it isn’t free but it’s even more capable than Paragon.

LEVEL 2 backup – current and important files, off-site and online

Backing up an entire PC or Server online requires a lot of space and a lot of bandwidth; this can get expensive and with a typical broadband connection takes a very long time. If you are unfortunate enough to suffer a catastrophe you will have plenty of other problems too and just being able to recover your important data will be a blessing.

Online services like Mozy, Dropbox and Carbonite are all ideal for backing up the files you are currently working on and essential documents like client information, accounts, reports, and so on.

• Mozy and Carbonite will give you unlimited backup for around £5-£6 per month.
• Dropbox ranges from 2GB to 100GB.
• Dropbox and Mozy will even give you 2GB for free.

Despite the available capacity it is important to understand that these services will allow you to restore your DATA, but not your SYSTEM. Before you can start recovering files the computer must be up and running. These services will not re- install all your applications for you. This is why the combination of system imaging and online backup works so well.

Mozy, Dropbox and Carbonite all encrypt the data so it is secure from prying eyes (so long as your password is secure… but that is whole different post!) and they all allow you to recover previous versions of files for at least 30 days (including deleted files).

Personally, I have used Dropbox for several years and I think it is fantastic. I love Dropbox because it isn’t intended primarily as a backup service; this is just a happy by-product. In addition to storing files online, Dropbox also synchronises files between computers, so never need to manually transfer files between computers or worry about whether you have the latest version. You can even share files with other Dropbox users.

DON’T FORGET THE SERVER

If you have a server, this needs to be backed up too. The typical server contains an organisation’s emails, network configuration and shared documents. Servers also host business critical applications and databases. Servers are usually even more important to backup than PCs.

The free version of Paragon and online services can only be used for PCs, so you will need to pay, but the same principles apply.

Obits offer an online backup service for servers and PCs. It compares favourably against the server versions of the above services and you get the added benefit of our friendly, local engineers to help you out if all goes wrong.

AND FINALLY…

If you put all this together you can have a robust, comprehensive backup solution for your computer and, if you have less than 2GB of essential files, the only cost will be the price of an external hard drive.

No one has an excuse not to have backups anymore! If you need any more advice or help setting up your backup system give Orbits a call on 0844 770 9091.