Small Business Backup As Easy As One, Two, Three

The importance of effective backup and disaster
recovery is increasing at a rapid rate as small to
midsize businesses realize the immense value of their
data — or rather the detrimental risks of losing it. A
University of Texas study showed that more than half of
all small to midsized businesses that lose their data
in a disaster go out of business within two years after
that disaster. Despite this fact, Gartner (an industry
analyst firm that covers the technology market)
estimates that less than half of all midsize businesses
and only 25 percent of small businesses have disaster
recovery plans in place.

by Michael Nixon

http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_16461.html

There is a substantial need for effective data storage
planning and solutions specific to small business. What
most small and midsize businesses don’t know is that
implementing a sound backup strategy isn’t the daunting
task it might seem.

Analyzing data and deciding on a backup plan

Before any backup occurs, companies need to ask some
questions:

* How much capacity do we need?
* How often do we need to back up?
* Which data needs to be saved?

In analyzing data requirements, it’s critical to note
how the data is used and how frequently. These factors
will help a company judge how quickly its data needs to
be restored and help pinpoint the amount and type of
data that’s vital to business continuity.

The benefits of tape

Tape storage offers several advantages over other
storage methods. First, and often most importantly for
users, tape is low in cost. Because tape backup
technology has been around for decades, it offers the
lowest cost of storage per gigabyte (GB). Tape storage
can cost as little as five cents per GB, ideal for
small business budgets.

Capacity is also an advantage for tape solutions.
Current offerings range from 4 GB to as much as 500 GB
of uncompressed data capacity on a single cassette.
Considering that a typical small business requires
between 10 GB to 60 GB of capacity for daily
incremental backups and weekly full backups, CDs and
even DVDs would not be sufficient to meet this need.

Additionally, tape is shock resistant and durable over
time, and a consistently reliable format. Vendors like
Sony advertise a 30-year shelf life for most tape
media, and if you drop a tape drive, the tape itself
can still be recovered. The same cannot be said if you
damage a hard drive.

Backup is as easy as one, two, three

Although it seems intimidating at first, backing your
data up on tape is a relatively easy process.

1. First, ensure that the drives and tapes purchased
can accommodate present and future storage
requirements. Any backups need to secure all of the
company’s necessary data and software programs,
including financial records, going back several years.
The products should also be fully compatible with the
current computer systems on site. If sharing one drive
between systems and supporting mobile workers are
essential, do not forget to check that the solution
purchased has high-speed interfaces, like USB 2.0, for
portability and faster backups.

2. Assign a designated person to conduct regular
backups, check and change the tapes and store them
offsite. Remember, if it’s not backed up, there’s
nothing to restore. Additionally, file management is
key. You should develop a methodology that the staff
can understand and use. Cataloguing and file locators
are important features for a tape solution.

3. Once a backup is finished, make sure that the job
was completed successfully. Check the log after each
backup and double-check that there were no
interruptions. It is also vital to ensure that the data
will actually restore. The only way to know for certain
that a backup works is to open a backup file and verify
its integrity. If you encounter problems, check the
system settings and the soundness of the media.
Rotating the media and following instructions for drive
cleaning are also helpful.

The best way for a good backup routine in a small
business is to buy a tape drive with the capacity to
back up all company data on one tape.E It is simply
good business to protect files by copying or
transferring them regularly to removable tape
cartridges that can be stored in a separate location
outside of the office or in a fireproof safe.E The
easier the process, the more likely it is to get done.