Have you ever imagined what would happen if a medium to large business suffers massive data loss due to a hardware failure, and no backup procedures were in place? Tens of thousands of dollars – even millions – could be lost. The worst part of this situation is that network administrators know they should back up their data, but they often do nothing about it. For example, administrators will deploy anti-virus software to all machines on the network. This software is usually bundled with backup applications that can be used to store data, but they often don’t bother to use it.
If you don’t have a backup plan in place, NOW is a good time to start.
There are some basic guidelines to follow when backing up valuable data. The procedure is to perform a full backup, followed by incremental backups every couple of days. This needs to be done on a weekly basis. It does not matter if you’re running a business in cities around the world or straight out of your own home. Backup procedures should always be the number one priority for any network admin.
Data can be stored in many different forms, from CD/DVD, to a dedicated backup server, to external hard or tape drives. All the information written above is great advice; however it takes initiative to perform the task. The backup process does not even need to be done manually; it can be automated by the backup utility software being used. If the process is not put into practice then you stand to lose a lot more than data. There is a saying for situations like these: If you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail.
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