You’re only as good as your last backup

They say the three most important things in the real-estate business are “location, location, location.” If there is one thing that I have learned from spending more than 22 years in the computer industry, it is that the three most important things in this business are backing up, backing up and backing up. In actuality, this really means:

a.) Backing up your computer systems
b.) Verifying and testing the backups of your systems
c.) Repeating a.) and b.) on a continual basis

Another way to put it is that “Backing up is job 1.” Unfortunately, it seems that in many IT departments, backups just don’t get much attention.

Based on my experience, I would estimate that up to 50 percent of the companies we run into are not getting everything backed up properly. While we have seen many instances of companies not having good backups of their CAD and other files, this is especially prevalent in the data management area where you not only need to back up your standard files, but also database files that link all of the files and their metadata together. (This same thing would also apply to other database applications like ERP, CRM, e-mail, accounting, etc. that most companies run these days)

Some of the common things that can go wrong include the following:

-The administration password expires and gets changed so that the scheduled backup task that runs under the administration account no longer runs. (We would recommend scheduling backup tasks under a special account whose password does not expire.)

-The backup software is simply not being directed to back up all of the necessary folders and file types

-Backup media is too small and filling up during the backup process so that it does not get to the all of the necessary files

-The necessary backup software for properly backing up SQL or other databases is not installed

-Backup media is not being cycled properly

However, it is impossible to make a list of everything that could possibly go wrong. As a result, the only way to truly verify that everything is backing up properly is by:

-Setting up a "test PC" with copies of the company applications installed
-Restoring backups to the test PC
-Testing the application, files and data on the test PC

Also, since computer disks are now so cheap, it can also be a good idea to perform multiple backups on a nightly basis so that data and files are backed up not only to tape, but also copied to a location on another server or to another device such as an external USB hard drive These drives can be obtained very inexpensively nearly everywhere these days. With prices of approximately $0.50 to $1.50 per GB for these devices, there is no reason to not invest in one or more of these drives.

While all of the above can seem like a time-consuming hassle, we feel that it is the only way to make sure that your company’s data and as a result, your company’s operations (not to mention your career) are not placed at tremendous risk.
 

 

 

This page last edited on Tuesday, March 09, 2010