Backing-up

Many organisations and people think that backing up is complicated, tedious and expensive. But it doesn’t have to be - using the right tool can make it very easy to do. The trick is making sure you get the right tool and then applying it correctly.

You also have to think about what needs to be backed up. This could include individual computers or your servers. Many organisations have a shared drive on a server. If everything is saved here there is no need to back up the individual computers, but the server will need a regular back-up. However, if staff have laptops which are used remotely, then they will need to be backed-up.

So decide first of all exactly what needs backing-up. When you’ve identified this, you can start to look at the right solution. It may also involve a multiple approach, e.g. a daily back-up of the server, an automated routine to back-up laptops when they log on to the shared drive and a weekly back-up of desktop computers.

The level of backing-up can also be important. For example, servers might be backed-up locally using a hard drive and/or they may also be backed up over a connection to an off-site facility. This is like a back-up to a back-up, but if it’s vital that your data or programs are available without any downtime, then you may need it.

It’s also important to check that your back-up routine actually works. Your server crashing is not the time to find out that your back-up system hasn’t worked for the last 6 months. So check the back-up periodically to make sure it can be relied upon. A back-up that you cannot rely on is more than useless, because you will have spent time and possibly money on it, but the one time when it was really needed, it wasn’t there. So not only are you without the data you need, you’ve wasted your time and money too.

If you ever want to discuss your back-up routine and whether it is appropriate for your needs, speak to a reliable IT Support company. They should be more than happy to talk through your requirements.