Back up or die! - Page 2
If your business relies on your access to email and the internet, think how devastated you'd be should that access be removed.
I'm going to take a quick look at possible solutions to a number of Disaster scenarios - perhaps one or more may be useful to you?
What are the solutions?
Hardware failure
Starting with hard disk failure, the obvious solution is to back up to second hard drive. This could be internal, external or in a different machine. I shall take a quick look at the benefits and drawbacks of each of these options.
1). Installing a second hard drive in your Computer :- This is probably the cheapest option.
You would need to set up a regular copy job to sync data from Drive 1 to Drive 2. The easiest way to do this would be to use RSYNC - for details on how to use this utility, take a look at www.mikerubel.org/computers/rsync_snapshots/
Windows users should take a look here... http://www.gaztronics.net/rsync.php
This would be the fastest (in terms of data transfer rates for backup and restores) but recovering from a failed primary hard drive would still require replacement/repair of the original hard drive with possibily a re-installation of the operating system.
This solution would not protect against hardware failure of other components (such as power supply/memory.)
My advice would be to re-use that spare old hard drive in this way (rather than leave it to get dusty in that box on the top of the cupboard) but, this should not be the mainstay of your Business Continuity planning.
2). Backing up to an external USB Drive :- This is probably the easiest option.
I use this as part of my backup strategy (for more details, please take a look at www.kmeckstein.com - my personal IT site where I explain my philosophy of keeping IT simple.)
Although data transfer rates are not particularly high, this is a simple solution to backing up the data portion of your hard drive. A catastophic hard disk failure will require replacement and/or repair of your hard drive prior to the re-installation of your applications and data; as with option 1). this should be considered a Disaster Recovery strategy rather than a Business Contiuity one.
3). Backing up to a Server :- This option share much in common with option 2.
I am using this as part of my Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery planning. I back my workstations up to a server and then back the server up to an external USB drive. Please not that, whilst this might seem to be the ideal solution, it does not protect from natural disaster (such as fire or flood) or un-natural disaster (such as a visit from Billy the Burglar.)
4). Backing up to a Web Server :- This option seems to be the ideal solution. However, although I use this option in various forms (see www.kmeckstein.com for details), bandwidth restrictions reduce it's usefulness to me. This one might work for you is you are sitting at the end of a high speed internet connection.
5). Backing up to CD/DVD :- This option should be part of your regular backup process.
Even a weekly backup to DVD won't cost too much - the trick is to identify your vital data and get into the habit of backing it up on a regular basis.
My advice...
To be absolutely honest, none of the above will provide you with complete Business Continuity should you suffer a hardware failure.
My advice would be to use whichever of the above is appropriate in conjuction with.....
6). Backing up to another live PC :- This option is the obvious one (at least to my jaded eyes!)
Not only do you have a copy of your data in another place, if that data is on another working PC (with all your applications already installed), and your main PC dies; all you need to do is cross the room and sit down at the live spare machine.
You can be up and running in minutes, if not seconds. Now, that's what I call real Business Continuity!
What do you need to implement this strategy? Just a spare PC, configured with all your vital apps, connected to your network and a backup script that copies over your data from your main PC overnight and also, during the day, should you require an interim backup (perhaps during lunchbreak after a hard morning's work?)
Software failure
If your software crashes and mangles all the data on your hard drive, could you go back to the un-mangled software that existed 1 hour ago?
As long as you are backing up your data, you stand a chance of recovering from a fatal software error.
By having a replacement machine, pre-configured with all your software and waiting in the corner of the office, the amount of time that you spend recovering from a major software error is minimised.
You should consider what software you are using for each specific task and then, ask yourself if that software is appropriate. Whilst I'm not going to tell you that Spreadsheets are evil!, I have seen, so many many times, spreadsheets being used to perform the tasks that should really be managed by databases or financial recording packages. If you are using the right software for the job, it is less likely to go wrong and let you down!
You should also ask yourself whether it is the time to change your software to free Open Source software such as Open Office/GnuCash/MySQL?
Open Source software is free, so there are no cost restraints to having that spare PC hidden under the desk.
Open Source sofware
Human error
If you delete or overwrite an important file, could you recover it?
As with recovering from software errors, a strong backup policy will also get you out of trouble if you tosh things up yourself.
Theft
Could you survive a visit from BILLY THE BURGLAR?
So, you gone back to the UK to visit some relatives; you've told half the world on Facebook and Billy the Burglar comes to visit.
Now, Billy is really only interested in high value items so; yes, he takes your TV, he takes your Hi-Fi and yes, he's going to love your computers.
Even if you've backed them up to an external USB drive, the odds are that Billy will want to take that as well!
Fire, Flood and Other Disasters
What would you do if aliens abduct your computer?
Well, I think that we can discount the alien threat but, we should all bear in mind the risks of fire and water damage.
This is where having a decent offsite Disaster Recovery strategy comes in handy.
OK, I'm convinced - what do I do?!
OK - you're either convinced that it'll never happen to you, you're actually not that interested in ensure that you can continue trading following an IT problem (in which case you're probably not even reading this but... I'll buy you a coffee the next time I'm passing the Job Centre.)
If you've made it this far and are starting to wonder how much you'd lose by
(i) not being able to confirm that Gite booking before the potential client goes elsewhere,
(ii) not responding to that email enquiry (and thus, potential client figures you're not very motivating and decides to give the contract to your competitor), or
(iii) not being able to bill those people who's work details you've been logging on a spreadsheet on that PC that's just crashed/blownup/been nicked/been abducted by aliens! - if you're still here and interested in low cost or free solutions to the sort of scenarios I've been describing, well then - read on...
Still here? If so, read the finale....
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