SECURING YOUR DATA
Why Backup?
What many people do not realise is that the most unreliable part of any computer is the hard drive.
If any other part fails you can connect the hard drive to another computer to get at your data, however if the hard drive
on your server or workstation fails, then with no backup your data and possible your software has gone forever!
How long could your company survive if you lost all your data?
How do I backup?
This is not as silly a question as it sounds as there are many methods, each with their advantages and limitations. After
having seen and used many options over the years we have come to the conclusion that the most cost effective and simple to
use method is on-line backup. Having compared the many
on line backup options on the market we have decided to install and
recommend Perfect Backup,
as in our opinion it offers the best combination of cost, reliability, good technical support (free) and security.
Please see the table below to compare the different backup methods available.
| Backup Type | Setup Cost | Running Costs | Reliability | Technical Support | Security |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect Backup | £25 | Depends on amount of data. e.g. 10Gb costing £27.50 per month | Data is stored in 3 separate locations and backed up by tape. Should anything happen in your office, you will be able to download the data to any machine as long as you know your account name and password. As the system is automatic and runs in the background, you do nothing once set up. | Free of charge. The support is available on line or more importantly at the end of the phone! | To be able to backup or restore the data you must know the user name and password for the account. Nobody can read your data unless you tell them. |
| Tape Streamer |
Backup Software £150 to £1000 Tape Streamer £350 to £5000 Tapes. You will need at least 10 tapes from £5 to £50 each A minimal backup solution will start at £550 |
As tapes wear out you should budget to replace them every 2 years. From £4 to 45 per month on average. |
If the tapes do not wear out then as long as you remember to change them, and then take them home with you so there are at least two tapes off site in case of fire or burglary. However being realistic many people forget to change the tapes and/or take them home. | If there is a problem most technical support is chargeable by the company who wrote the software. This usually starts from £50 per hour. | As most tapes are not secure, anyone with the same tape drive and software can often read your data! |
| CD/DVD | Free | Blank CDs and DVDs start from 20p each, so if you back up every working day, should work out to £4.00 per month. | As there are no guarantees on the reliability of CDs and DVDs and no quoted figures it is hard to say how reliable the method is. We would not recommend this as a method for business critical data. Also has same problems with remembering to do the backup. | There is usually no or very little technical support as the drives are usually supplied with the computer and most manufacturers do not offer this level of support. | There is usually no security as most computers should be able to read the CD/DVD unless you have used some encrypting software installed and know how to use it. |