Online Computer Data Backup and Recovery - How Do I Know My Digital Information is Being Backed Up?

“Your computer backup is only as good as the information put into it, and the regular monitoring and testing applied thereafter.”
Q: How do I know if the online data backup and recovery service I’m using is actually backing up my computer every day?
A: Excellent question—because, unless you’re receiving email confirmation on a daily basis from your chosen storage provider, telling you that your backup has completed successfully on that particular day, you can’t know for certain.
And herein lies one of the many dangerous pitfalls of “self-serve” websites that allow you to (translate as: insist that you) download applications unassisted, leaving you to install and set up the application yourself. How can you possibly know that you’ve set up the application to run properly? What assurance do you receive from a faceless corporate website, without even a telephone number for possible contact with a human being, that your digital records are indeed being encrypted and securely stored offsite? Are you willing to accept an automatically processed charge on your monthly credit card statement as proof that your business is being backed up in entirety each and every day?
And with something as critical to the survival of your business as daily computer backup, you certainly do not want to take the chance that you’ve missed a step or omitted a critical file from your backup set. Moreover, as a savvy business owner, you want to know that you’re getting the service that you’re paying for.
But, even more to the point, the whole purpose of computer backup is the ability to recover information destroyed by a hard drive crash, or lost to a fire or theft.
So picture this: 18 months ago you downloaded an application to automatically backup your computer online on a daily basis, allowing you to erase the concern of data loss from your mind. Every month you notice the small charge on your credit card statement, and you feel relieved that your information is protected, and glad that you never have to think about data backup.
But one day, unexpectedly, your trusty computer crashes and wipes out your client database, all your accounting records, emails, and documents. It’s a bad situation, but at least once you get your new computer set up you’ll be able to restore your information! Right?
Wrong—because about 12 months ago you installed a Windows update that, unbeknownst to you, changed a setting that prevented your backup from running. You’ve been charged to store your information for the last 12 months offsite, but your chosen service provider has only been storing the information as it appeared the day before the Windows update. You’ve just lost an entire year’s worth of progress, and there’s nothing you can do about it. You can fight with your service provider to have your storage charges refunded, but that’s not going to get you your data back.
You’re extremely surprised to learn that no one employed by your service provider was monitoring your account. There were no safeguards in place to alert you or your storage provider that something had gone amiss. Why? Because you chose the cheapest solution that requires that you know enough about your own system to verify, on your own, that your backup is running properly. And guess what? You agreed to this arrangement when you clicked “accept” to the service agreement at the time of installation. You agreed that you would monitor and test your backup yourself.
Shocking, but true. This being said, here are some tips to prevent this nightmare from happening to you:
What Not To Do:
1. Keep convincing yourself that this won’t happen to you.
2. Tell yourself that you have the time, energy and expertise necessary to monitor and test your backup yourself.
3. Put off making a decision on a reliable backup solution for another day.
4. Employ an online data backup service based strictly on price.
What To Do:
1. Online services need not be impersonal nor absent. Outsource your daily online data backup to a storage provider that first speaks with you to learn about you and your business, and then completes the software installation and setup for you.
2. Insist on daily email confirmation that your backup is running successfully.
3. Choose a storage provider that invites you to call for telephone support 24/7/365.
4. Ensure that the onus for regular monitoring and testing of your account is placed on the storage provider. They’re the experts, so make them prove it.
5. Commit right now the time and resources necessary to protect the survival of your business with daily offsite computer backup. Don’t become a bankruptcy statistic because you procrastinated on protecting your company’s more valuable asset—your information.
And remember, your computer backup is only as good as your ability to recover lost information when you need it most. Survive the crash, restore your information, and look forward to your next success.
Copyright 2007 - Blue Melnick. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, and include the following byline:
Blue Melnick is the Co-Founder and Lead Storage Specialist of Virtual Tape Drive Canada. Blue invites you to contact him through http://www.vtdcanada.com/ or by phone at 416-462-3323. Not sure if online data backup is right for you? Why not sign up for Biz Link News—Blue’s free ezine—to learn more about how this new technology can “save” your business?
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