Backup Overview

Backup Overview

Data is the raw facts, numbers, letters, or symbols that the computer processes into meaningful information. Examples of data include a letter to a company or a client, a report for your boss, a budget proposal of a large project, or an address book of your friends and business associates. Whatever the data is, you can save it (or write it to disk) so that you can retrieve it at any time, you can print it on paper, or you can send it to someone else over the telephone lines.

Data stored on a computer or stored on the network is vital to the users and probably the organization. The data represents hours of work and is some- times irreplaceable. Data loss can be caused by many things, including hard- ware failure, viruses, user error, and malicious users. When disaster occurs, the best method to recover data is backup, backup, backup. When disaster has occurred and the system does not have a backup of its important files, it is often too late to recover the files.

A backup of a system is to have an extra copy of data and/or programs. As a technician, consultant, or support person, you need to emphasize at every moment to back up on servers and client systems. In addition, it is recom- mended that the clients save their data files to a server so that you have a single, central location to back up. This might go as far as selecting and installing the equipment, doing the backup, or training other people in doing the backup. When doing all of this, be sure to select the equipment and method that assures that the backup is completed on a regular basis. Remember that if you have the best equipment and software but no one completes the backup, the equipment and software is wasted.

THE BEST METHOD FOR DATA PROTECTION AND RECOVERY IS BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP.

When developing for a backup, three steps should be followed. They are as follows:

1. Develop a backup plan.

CHAPTER 16: Backups and System Recovery

2. Stick to the backup plan.

3. Test the backup. When developing a backup plan, you must consider the following:

. What equipment will be used? . How much data needs to be backed up? . How long will it take to do the backup? . How often must the data be backed up? . When will the backup take place? . Who will do that backup?

Whatever equipment, person, or method is chosen, you must make sure that the backup will be done. If you choose the best equipment, the best software, and the brightest person, and the backup is not done for whatever reason, you wasted your resources and you put your data at risk.

How often the backup is done depends on the importance of the data. If you have many customers loaded into a database, which is constantly changed, or your files represent the livelihood of your business, you should back them up everyday. If there are a few letters that get sent throughout the week with nothing vitally important, you can back up once a week.