data recovery

A Step-By-Step Guide To Easy Data Recovery

If you’re like most businesses today, data is your lifeblood. In fact, disasters such as corrupted databases, malicious viruses or tornadoes can trigger prolonged system downtime or catastrophic data loss, and even cause permanent closure of your business.

According to Jon Toigo, author of Disaster Recovery Planning: Managing Risk and Catastrophe in Information Systems, small companies without access to their data for more than 10 days will never fully recover financially, with 50 percent going out of business within five years.

Toigo’s assessment may seem surprising, but not if you consider the many results of unexpected downtime. Data loss often means skyrocketing labor costs, missed revenue opportunities, decreased customer confidence, legal liability, negative publicity, even bankruptcy.

Creating A Plan

You can prevent the scenarios above by protecting your data with an effective disaster plan and proper backup processes. And since disasters don’t usually strike with advance warning, take time to plan for them today. If you’re new to disaster recovery planning, here’s a step-by-step guide to getting one in place immediately.

Step One: Assess Your Risk |     Identify the different kinds of information in your business and the impact of losing each type. Decide what data your business can temporarily go without, and what data is critical. For example, if your customers conduct business with you online, your print server would not be as critical during a disaster as your Web server, which records sales transactions and customer profile changes.

Step Two: Develop A Plan |     Create a comprehensive list of staff members, vendors in response to a disaster. Then prioritize the systems to be recovered in order of importance. In case you need to file an insurance claim, make sure you have a comprehensive list of your equipment, including purchase dates, models and manufacturers, along with software information and licenses. Also include system passwords and security identification required to initiate the recovery.

Step Three: Test Your Plan |     Once your plan has been defined, test it using the people who will actually complete the recovery. Document your results and any areas that need improvement. Make sure your staff understands your disaster recovery plan and train them on their specific duties.

Step Four: Make Time For Maintenance |     Call us to schedule an annual review of your disaster recovery plan. Incorporate any updates in systems, equipment or company processes, and train your staff on any changes to your plan.

Backing Up Data To Tape

Once you’ve created a disaster recovery plan, you can shift your focus to protecting your data. For many businesses, tape backup is the most popular choice—primarily because it offers ease of use, cost-effectiveness and flexibility. However, some users make common mistakes during tape backup that, unbeknownst to them, sabotage their backup efforts.

Here are some tips that can help you protect your data and recover from a disaster quickly:

· Consider using three sets of tapes — one to perform current data backup; one to store data on site; and one to store off site. Each week, rotate the most current tape off site and move the tape from the previous week back to your business location.

· Regularly transfer your tapes to an off-site location that is far removed from your business. Consider a location at least ten miles away, thus reducing the chances that the same natural disaster (e.g., earthquake, hurricane or flood) destroys all copies of the same data.

· Adhere to a regular schedule of permanently archiving your backup tapes.

· Develop a plan for retrieving your tapes after a disaster.

· If backup speed is an issue, consider adjusting other factors in your tape solution, such as network speed, server processing power and backup software. (See “More Than Just Storage” on page 1 for more information.)

· Add another layer of protection by replicating your data in a second location or server, or over a WAN. By having the same data in multiple locations, you will ensure continuous access to your data and still be able to recover from a disaster easily. We can help by providing the replication solutions you need.

Is it time for you to get your disaster recovery plan in place? If so, call us today, and let us help you plan for tomorrow.