As more and more of the information you need to do business is
stored on your computer, regular backups of your hard drive become
imperative. Backing up files and data is a simple and inexpensive procedure.
A small cash investment and a few days of getting into the habit
are all it takes to make certain that you don't "crash"
into an electronic brick wall.
What exactly is a backup?
Making a backup is simply making an electronic copy of your hard
drive. If you accidentally delete a file, or delete one and then
find that you need it, you can retrieve a copy of it from the backup
you made. If your hard drive crashes, you can "restore"
a complete copy of your hard drive onto the old one after reformatting,
or onto a new one. There are two types of backups: full and incremental.
A full backup is simply a complete copy of everything on the hard
drive. An incremental backup is a copy of any files which have changed,
or any new files added, since the last backup. Most backup systems
will use a combination of these two (periodic full backups with
regular incremental backups in between).
Backups are compressed copies of the data on your hard drive, which
means (a) you can get more data squeezed onto a tape, and (b) you
can't just read files off a tape like you can off a floppy diskette.
Backups have to be "restored" by the software used to
create them, before the files are useable.
If you are one of those people that still maintains most of your
data on removable discs and and don't believe that you need to perform
backups because you only store "software" on the hard
drive, you need to reconsider. More and more often software vendors
are making their software, upgrades and patches available on the
Internet. In the old days, if your computer crashed you could simply
re-install your software from the software discs you received when
you purchased it. Now, suppose you bought your software over the
Internet and simply downloaded the files and do not have a backup
of your hard drive. If your computer crashes you will spend the
next few days working with vendors trying to replace your software.
If the software you downloaded included software needed to connect
to the Internet, you will not be able to download the replacement
software even if the vendor is willing to allow you to download
a replacement. Bottom line is that any one I have ever known that
crashed a hard drive and did not have a backup, now maintains periodic
backups of their system. It's amazing how much of our actions are
a result of pain (emotional or physical).
What does it take and how much will it cost?
There are two basic ways to effect backup: do it yourself, or pay
to have it done for you.
The easiest way to do it yourself is to install backup hardware - external drive
on your PC like a Zip or Iomega drive.
If you use a peer-to-peer network such as Windows for Workgroups
or Windows , you can backup files from all PCs on the network
through a single PC with a back up drive installed.
The best system is to have disks, one labelled for each day
of the week. Set the macro to run sometime when no one in your office
is around (say, at midnight or 5 am). On Monday, before you leave
for the day, close all the Windows on your computer except for the
Schedule and Program Manager windows, pop the "Monday"
tape into the tape drive, and go home. When you come in on Tuesday
morning, your computer will have made a complete copy of your hard
drive. Before you leave Tuesday, do the same thing, only put in
the "Tuesday" tape. You can make an incremental
backup. Once you get in the habit of popping a disk in every day
before you leave, it will become second nature and you'll never
even think about it. This is the best security you can have for
the data on your hard drive.
You can get by with two disks if you have little data and don't
often make software changes: one for full and one for incremental
backups. The problem with this system is that you only change disks
twice a week, so it's not so much of a habit and you'll forget,
or put it off ... and you don't have a current backup when you need
one.
Many cities now have remote backup services provided by local businesses.
With remote backup, you install software on your PC and connect
a modem to it. Periodically, the central backup computer will call
your PC and download a backup copy. Prices vary widely, so ask around
in your area. Be certain, however, that the service you sign up
for includes full backups regularly, not just once a year, but at
least quarterly, and preferably weekly or monthly. If you have a
full backup once a year, and incremental backups weekly, and you
crash your computer after 10 months, you may have to restore 41
separate backups!
Remote backup is a good plan if you are the kind who forgets things
easily, or if you use a lot of temporary help that cannot be depended
on to put in the tape, or if you just don't want to think about
it at all and prefer to have it handled for you. Cost wise, it's
cheaper in the long run to do it yourself. It may cost more up front
to buy the disk drive and disks.
Make sure it worked!
Obviously, a failed backup is worthless, or even worse than worthless
because it got your hopes up! You should read the backup log whenever
an error message is reported, to see whether it's an error you must
correct. You should periodically restore a sample file or two just
to make sure everything is actually working. I would restore a sample
file from the first full and first incremental backup, and if all
is well, do a sample restoration once a month or so.
An extra precaution
Regardless of the backup method you choose, it's a good idea to
make a complete backup yourself from time to time and store it somewhere
else. I'm a worst-case-scenario kind of thinker, so I have made
sure that if my office burns down, I can buy a new PC with insurance
money and restore a complete backup of my old hard drive onto the
new PC, using the extra backup tape I store at my sister's house!
If you use a remote backup service, make a backup of your own, just
to be safe, even if you have to do it on 47 disks. Remember,
better safe than sorry!
Information provided by the Small Business Administration