Do you have a plan? Do you back up your data? Do you store your backup in a truly safe place? Is this an important issue to consider?
If you have any information on your computer related to your business operation, the answer is yes! This is one of the most important issues for your office. When your staff is small and employees (and owners) wear many hats, it's often easy to overlook traditional information system (IS) issues. When you have a computer staff to take care of these things, you can rest a little easier, depending on their expertise to take care of computer-related functions. When you do it yourself. you have to be armed with knowledge and responsibility.
You likely have all your information on a single computer or a set of computers in your office. This information can be anything from important correspondence and office policies stored in word processing documents to your financial records, payroll processing, point of sale, inventory, and even digital photos related to your operation. What happens when the computer fails? (Keep in mind that a computer can "fail" several ways.)
Information is usually stored on a hard drive within the PC. These hard drives do fail. They can physically stop working. When this happens, the information is often irretrievable. If your only copy of your pertinent information was on that hard drive and you have no backup, it's gone. Other dangers to the data stored on the hard drive include viruses, users deleting everything (on purpose, maliciously, or accidentally), and program bugs that destroy data. Any of these could damage your information easily.
And what about theft or physical disasters such as fire, flood, or the roof leaking? Without a backup stored safely off-site, your data is lost. Of the companies that lose their data in such a manner, 90 percent are out of business within two years and 50 percent never reopen their doors after the disaster.
Taking precautions
The first step in protecting your information is to identify what is critical and needs to be backed up. You may decide only the data needs to be backed up. In case of a disaster, you would need to reinstall all the programs, then restore the backup for the needed data. In other cases, you may need to back up your programs as well as the data because the programs have been customized to your needs and simply reinstalling them isn't viable. You may wish to backup the entire contents so you could restore everything and be fully operational. Other options to consider in addition to backups--especially if the computer being down can't be a consideration in your business-include dual or mirrored hard drives.
The devices and media you choose for backing up depend on this decision. If you only need to back up data, find out how much storage space this data needs. If you're backing up word processing documents and a small amount of financial data, using floppy disks may be sufficient. However, if the financial data alone is 1GB, you need to look at a tape backup unit. Basically, here are your choices when it comes to common backup devices:
FLOPPY DISK-Almost every PC comes with a floppy drive, so there's no additional cost for the device. The disks have a capacity of 1.44MB and are very inexpensive, about 50 cents each. You can copy files directly onto these, use the backup functions within an operating system (like Windows Backup), or use the backup built into the application (like Quickbooks backup). You can span disks with these backup programs, so files larger than 1.44MB can be backed up this way. Also, most backup programs can compress data so more than the disk's capacity can be placed on the floppy. Restoration is easy on your PC or another unit, if needed, as the floppy drive is universal. The drawback to this method is capacity. Once you go beyond a few disks for backup, it becomes time-consuming and more difficult to manage.
ZIP DISK OR SUPERDISK-These have a capacity of 100MB to 250MB and require a special drive. The drive can be internal, installed next to the traditional floppy drive, or it can be external, connected to a port on the PC. Drives range from $59 to $199, and the disks are $9 to $20. The Superdisk drive actually replaces the 3 1/2-inch floppy drive and can read and write both types of disks. If you're just backing up data and it will fit on one of these disks, this is a good option. The disks are relatively inexpensive and easy to use. Again, you can copy files to the disks or use a backup utility. When you make your selection, consider what other computers you may want to use your backup with. For example, if you're working on a big project, taking files between your home and office, both computers need to have compatible drives. You could have a 100 MB Zip drive on both PCs and take your files between the two.
CD-RECORDABLE OR CD-REWRITABLE-A CD-R can be written to once, whereas a CD-RW can be written to many times. You can add another drive to your computer, internal or external, that can write or burn files to a CD. Again, the files may be copied or backed up to this media. The drives cost approximately $250 to $500. CD-R disks cost less than $1 each and CD-RW disks cost about $3 each. A CD's capacity is around 800MB. One of the advantages of using a CD is the file, once backed up, may be restored or copied to most PCs with a CD-ROM drive. This is a good method for backing up digital photos to share with others. The capacity, although large, is still not big enough to back up your entire PC, which today is easily 20GB. On the horizon is the DVD-Write, which will have a much greater capacity.
TAPE BACKUPS-This is the best choice if you need to back up the entire computer's contents or huge amounts of data. Again, you need the tape device, which can be internal or external. The price range is more vast in this area because there are many tape choices. The two main alternatives are Travan, or DAT/DDS. The Travan drive capacity is 4GB to 20GB with the drives costing $179 to $299. The tapes run about $30. The DAT drive capacity is 10GB to over 100GB. The drives run approximately $750 to $2000, and the tapes are about $14. The DAT backs up much faster than the Travan.
INTERNET-There are many companies offering backup over the Internet. You connect and transfer files to their computers. They charge a regular service fee based on file sizes and frequency of backup. To do this you would need an Internet connection--preferably a fast one, beyond the normal modem speed of 56K. You also acknowledge that your data is "out there," which may not be feasible for confidential information.
REMOVABLE HARD DRIVES, MIRRORED HARD DRIVES, RAID TECHNOLOGY-Using additional hard drives for backup is another option, usually left for IT professionals.
Besides capacity based on your identified needs, speed is a big consideration in the media decision. If you can leave your computer on and walk out the door, allowing a backup in the middle of the night, the slower tape may be a good choice. However, if you need to back up the entire hard drive in the middle of each day, the faster tape backup is the choice.
Cost factors in also. Some businesses like to have a backup for each day of the month, plus a few. At $30 a tape, the cost of the drive for the Travan dissolves compared to the DAT at $14 a tape. If you only need a few tapes, then the Travan is more attractive.
How often should you backup? Every time important changes are made to your data you need to backup! In a law office, every time a specific document is changed or updated, it may be feasible to back it up, even in the middle of the day. In a CPA office, workers may update client files once a week. After this update is complete, they may back those files onto a floppy disk and file the disk in the file cabinet. Some businesses back up their entire financial system prior to a major update function, such as closing the month or creating finance charges on customer accounts, or installing an upgrade to their program. This is a precaution in case of accidental misprocessing or a program bug.
An office should have a regular backup routine based on its needs. Most offices with a tape backup will perform a backup every day at a scheduled time. The CPA office described above would probably have a tape backup of all data daily in addition to the worker's individual client files; the same holds true for the law office. Some smaller places may only update financial data a few times a week. In these cases, they may back up onto a Zip disk at the completion of each session. For certain applications, such as accounting systems, daily or regular backups may not be enough. These businesses should back up each day, then also have a month-end backup, stored separately, and year-end backups held for lengthy time periods. This way, if needed, they can go back to those records.
