Computer Tip of the Day: Backing Up Your Data

computer tip of the day backing up your data

Backing Up Your Data

In the workplace, backing up your data and keeping your sensitive data secure is important. Even if you’re under the impression that there’s only a slim chance of losing your files, never take a risk.

Whether it’s a natural disaster, or someone in the workplace looking to steal your info, there are numerous scenarios where your data can be lost or compromised. With that said, one of the best ways to secure your information, is by backing up your files. Speaking of which, here are some important backup tips you should consider.

Have Multiple Backup Methods

Whether you’re using a flash drive or cloud backup services, make sure you have several contingency plans. While there’s no doubt that cloud is one of the best services around, having a USB flash drive is beneficial as well.

Not only is it portable, but all you have to do is plug the device into any computer, and upload all your files from there. Having multiple backup plans is also beneficial in case you’re temporarily unable to access one option.

Know Which Files Are Important

Before backing up your data, also be sure to know which files are important, and which aren’t. For the former, especially, there’s nothing worse than discarding sensitive data that you thought no longer had any value. Not only should you double-check, but also create a folder on your desktop for your important files. That way, when it’s time to back up your data, you already know what needs to be secured.

For more information, contact us today at AE Technology Group. We look forward to hearing from you.

Disaster Recovery: Most Common Causes of Data Loss

disaster recovery most common causes of data loss

An important aspect of disaster recovery planning is understanding what causes data loss. At this point, most business owners understand the risks and costs of data loss. On the other hand, not everyone is so sure as to what causes it in the first place.

We understand this and included a section in our backup solutions PDF that covers data loss causes. Here’s what we wrote:

The most common causes of data loss are due to:

  • Viruses
  • Software failures
  • File corruption
  • Hard drive crashes
  • Laptop loss / theft
  • Natural disasters
  • Power outages
  • User errors

If you’re going to plan for disaster recovery and what happens when you lose data, you also have to know why instances of data loss occur. Knowing what causes data loss will help you prevent it from ever happening. And while restoring data is good, preventing data loss is even better.

Consider what your business does daily to prevent the causes listed above. For example, write down exactly what your business does to prevent viruses. Do you have a firewall? Do you block certain websites that are susceptible to viruses? Have you educated employees about the risk of viruses?

This will give you insight as to how protected your data really is. If you find that there are many holes in your data protection plan, don’t worry. There are a few things you can do to protect your data immediately.

The best thing that we can recommend is to speak with a managed IT service provider. We can audit your data security and let you know if you need more protection. The worst case scenario is that you need to add extra security, and we can help with our flexible services. At the same time, you’re not locked into any deal or contact. There’s no pressure and you can choose what you think is right for your business.

To talk more about this or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.

The Location of a Disaster Recovery Service Provider’s Data Centers

the location of a disaster recovery service provider data centers
Disaster Recovery

While there are several important aspects of disaster recovery and backup solutions, a service provider can really only be as good as its data centers. Other aspects, such as support, availability, and integrity are all essential for a good disaster recovery service provider, but if its data center is insecure, then it ultimately has no backbone.

Businesses choose disaster recovery and backup solutions because they understand the risks of data loss and business downtime. First and foremost, businesses think of their geographic location and the type of natural disasters that can happen there. Events such as floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes are all good reasons to outsource your data backup.

But what good would this be if your disaster recovery service provider had a poorly located data center? They would essentially be at as much risk of your business in terms of power outages and other disturbances.

A recent LinkedIn article explains why it’s important to consider the geographic location of data centers when choosing a disaster recovery service provider:

“It’s important to consider whether a DRaaS provider has a secure data center that’s located somewhere without any geographic hazards (e.g., on an earthquake fault line or in a tornado-prone area). Also, consider whether the data center employs redundant networks, communication links, and power supplies, and whether it has adequate fire suppression mechanisms.”

Of course, it’s important to consider this factor before committing to a service provider. But if you discover that your service provider’s data center is in an unsafe area, it should immediately throw up a red flag – again, stressing how important it is to inquire of the location of a disaster recovery service provider, no matter how credited they are.

At AE Technology Group, we boast a guaranteed 99.9% uptime, most of all because of our geographically distributed data centers. We utilize Tier 4 data centers in different areas so that your business’ data is as secure a possible.

If you would like more information about disaster recovery and backup solutions, contact us.