This issue of Zero2Sixty brings you exciting updates on our new RevITup Business Care Managed Service Program, more technology tools and recommendations from the The Launch Pad team and other tips that will help you streamline your business, maximize your technology and boost your bottom line. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In This Issue April 2008 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take Advantage of our Enhanced Customer Portal Released last month, our new LiveConnect Online Support Portal offers instant access to our enhanced online ticketing system, service reports, a knowledge base, invoice history and configurable member access. Not only can you create and track service requests in real time with automated status updates, but now you can view executive service summary and management reports, search your company's personalized knowledge base, view and print invoices and set up your team members with defined levels of user access.
Referral Program Pays $$ Thank you to all of the clients and partners who took advantage of our Launch Pad Referral Program in the first Quarter of 2008. Your referrals were responsible for 13 new Launch Pad clients. Our Lucky Clover campaign was a great success thanks to all of your efforts.
Join the club and share the love and love. Tell us about a company you think would be a great fit for our Web or IT services and you can earn real dollars or services dollar.
The end of 2007 marked the move into our new digs on Gunn Highway in Odessa. We love our new space complete spacious offices, outdoor deck (and run for the occassional canine visitors), two beautiful conference rooms and lots of growing room.
The building was brand new so our final move in was a bit delayed but we are all settled in now and enjoying it. Stop in for a visit when our are out our way. We would love to show you around.
2107 Gunn Hwy
Odessa, FL 33556
(billing/mailing address still 18130 Jorene Rd. Odessa)
For both prospective and curerent customers, The Launch Pad offers a complimentary security and problem prevention audit to pin-point where you are most vulnerable to hardware failure, hackers, virus or spyware and data loss. We'll provide you with a complete network report card and show you any areas that need attention.
To ask about a free, no-obligation problem prevention audit, contact Randy Todd, Client Solutions Manager at 813-920-0788 x202 or e-mail rtodd@launchpadonline.com.
Save the date! On May 12th, Ilene Rosoff, Launch Pad President has been invited back by CDW and Inc. Magazine's Small Business Review to present the second in a series of small business technology webinars. The topic of this webinar is "The Great Backup Myths: How to avoid disaster and protect yourcompany" If you missed the 1st webinar, you can view the archive in the Small Business Center of our website. Stay tuned for complete event details and registration.
Join us in May!
Give Your Tapes the Pink Slip RevITup with our New Low-cost Onsite/Remote Managed Backup Series
What if you walked into your office tomorrow and discovered that and discovered that a virus, hacker or system crash had destroyed every filte, database and e-mail on your server. How confident are you that your data could be restored? How often are you testing your tape backups or doing a full system restore? If you have never tested your backups, you are at high risk for losing irreplaceable company files.
The Launch Pad's new RevITup Managed Backup and Distaster Recovery Solution means that your data is 100% safe and secure. It also means that your data is backed up in real-time every 15 minutes on and offsite. Our solution even includes a NAS server at your location which you can run from (virtualize) if your server crashes. All of this with no up front investment!
Did you know that clearing the cache on your Browser can correct many unplained problems experieced with web forms and on interactive or ecommerce websites. If functions on a website you are visiting are not behaving as expected, try clearing the cache.
Internet Explorer
1) Select Tools > Internet Options > General
2) Click the "Delete" button under browsing history
In Firefox
1) Select Tools > Options >
2) Open the Advanced panel and click Network Tab
3) Clcik the "Clear Now" button by the Cache Settings
Featured White Paper download now The New Face of IT : Managed Services- Paving the Road to Small Business Success
Many of you have joined our RevITup Business Care Managed Service series and are already enjoying the benefits of a managed and monitored technology solution. For those of you who would like to gain a little bit more understanding of what its all about and what a managed service approach to your IT can mean for you business, take a few minutes to read the short white paper above. Then give us a call and we can tell you exactly what kind of savings and benefits it can bring to your organziation.
We welcome your feedback regarding the newsletter. Feel free to send suggestions on information you would like to see included in future issues.
This issue of Zero2Sixty brings you exciting updates on our new RevITup Business Care Managed Service Program, more technology tools and recommendations from the The Launch Pad team and other tips that will help you streamline your business, maximize your technology and boost your bottom line. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In This Issue April 2008 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take Advantage of our Enhanced Customer Portal Released last month, our new LiveConnect Online Support Portal offers instant access to our enhanced online ticketing system, service reports, a knowledge base, invoice history and configurable member access. Not only can you create and track service requests in real time with automated status updates, but now you can view executive service summary and management reports, search your company's personalized knowledge base, view and print invoices and set up your team members with defined levels of user access.
Referral Program Pays $$ Thank you to all of the clients and partners who took advantage of our Launch Pad Referral Program in the first Quarter of 2008. Your referrals were responsible for 13 new Launch Pad clients. Our Lucky Clover campaign was a great success thanks to all of your efforts.
Join the club and share the love and love. Tell us about a company you think would be a great fit for our Web or IT services and you can earn real dollars or services dollar.
The end of 2007 marked the move into our new digs on Gunn Highway in Odessa. We love our new space complete spacious offices, outdoor deck (and run for the occassional canine visitors), two beautiful conference rooms and lots of growing room.
The building was brand new so our final move in was a bit delayed but we are all settled in now and enjoying it. Stop in for a visit when our are out our way. We would love to show you around.
2107 Gunn Hwy
Odessa, FL 33556
(billing/mailing address still 18130 Jorene Rd. Odessa)
For both prospective and curerent customers, The Launch Pad offers a complimentary security and problem prevention audit to pin-point where you are most vulnerable to hardware failure, hackers, virus or spyware and data loss. We'll provide you with a complete network report card and show you any areas that need attention.
To ask about a free, no-obligation problem prevention audit, contact Randy Todd, Client Solutions Manager at 813-920-0788 x202 or e-mail rtodd@launchpadonline.com.
Save the date! On May 12th, Ilene Rosoff, Launch Pad President has been invited back by CDW and Inc. Magazine's Small Business Review to present the second in a series of small business technology webinars. The topic of this webinar is "The Great Backup Myths: How to avoid disaster and protect yourcompany" If you missed the 1st webinar, you can view the archive in the Small Business Center of our website. Stay tuned for complete event details and registration.
Join us in May!
Give Your Tapes the Pink Slip RevITup with our New Low-cost Onsite/Remote Managed Backup Series
What if you walked into your office tomorrow and discovered that and discovered that a virus, hacker or system crash had destroyed every filte, database and e-mail on your server. How confident are you that your data could be restored? How often are you testing your tape backups or doing a full system restore? If you have never tested your backups, you are at high risk for losing irreplaceable company files.
The Launch Pad's new RevITup Managed Backup and Distaster Recovery Solution means that your data is 100% safe and secure. It also means that your data is backed up in real-time every 15 minutes on and offsite. Our solution even includes a NAS server at your location which you can run from (virtualize) if your server crashes. All of this with no up front investment!
Did you know that clearing the cache on your Browser can correct many unplained problems experieced with web forms and on interactive or ecommerce websites. If functions on a website you are visiting are not behaving as expected, try clearing the cache.
Internet Explorer
1) Select Tools > Internet Options > General
2) Click the "Delete" button under browsing history
In Firefox
1) Select Tools > Options >
2) Open the Advanced panel and click Network Tab
3) Clcik the "Clear Now" button by the Cache Settings
Featured White Paper download now The New Face of IT : Managed Services- Paving the Road to Small Business Success
Many of you have joined our RevITup Business Care Managed Service series and are already enjoying the benefits of a managed and monitored technology solution. For those of you who would like to gain a little bit more understanding of what its all about and what a managed service approach to your IT can mean for you business, take a few minutes to read the short white paper above. Then give us a call and we can tell you exactly what kind of savings and benefits it can bring to your organziation.
We welcome your feedback regarding the newsletter. Feel free to send suggestions on information you would like to see included in future issues.
This issue of Zero2Sixty brings you exciting updates on our new RevITup Business Care Managed Service Program, more technology tools and recommendations from the The Launch Pad team and other tips that will help you streamline your business, maximize your technology and boost your bottom line. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In This Issue April 2008 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take Advantage of our Enhanced Customer Portal Released last month, our new LiveConnect Online Support Portal offers instant access to our enhanced online ticketing system, service reports, a knowledge base, invoice history and configurable member access. Not only can you create and track service requests in real time with automated status updates, but now you can view executive service summary and management reports, search your company's personalized knowledge base, view and print invoices and set up your team members with defined levels of user access.
Referral Program Pays $$ Thank you to all of the clients and partners who took advantage of our Launch Pad Referral Program in the first Quarter of 2008. Your referrals were responsible for 13 new Launch Pad clients. Our Lucky Clover campaign was a great success thanks to all of your efforts.
Join the club and share the love and love. Tell us about a company you think would be a great fit for our Web or IT services and you can earn real dollars or services dollar.
The end of 2007 marked the move into our new digs on Gunn Highway in Odessa. We love our new space complete spacious offices, outdoor deck (and run for the occassional canine visitors), two beautiful conference rooms and lots of growing room.
The building was brand new so our final move in was a bit delayed but we are all settled in now and enjoying it. Stop in for a visit when our are out our way. We would love to show you around.
2107 Gunn Hwy
Odessa, FL 33556
(billing/mailing address still 18130 Jorene Rd. Odessa)
For both prospective and curerent customers, The Launch Pad offers a complimentary security and problem prevention audit to pin-point where you are most vulnerable to hardware failure, hackers, virus or spyware and data loss. We'll provide you with a complete network report card and show you any areas that need attention.
To ask about a free, no-obligation problem prevention audit, contact Randy Todd, Client Solutions Manager at 813-920-0788 x202 or e-mail rtodd@launchpadonline.com.
Save the date! On May 12th, Ilene Rosoff, Launch Pad President has been invited back by CDW and Inc. Magazine's Small Business Review to present the second in a series of small business technology webinars. The topic of this webinar is "The Great Backup Myths: How to avoid disaster and protect yourcompany" If you missed the 1st webinar, you can view the archive in the Small Business Center of our website. Stay tuned for complete event details and registration.
Join us in May!
Give Your Tapes the Pink Slip RevITup with our New Low-cost Onsite/Remote Managed Backup Series
What if you walked into your office tomorrow and discovered that and discovered that a virus, hacker or system crash had destroyed every filte, database and e-mail on your server. How confident are you that your data could be restored? How often are you testing your tape backups or doing a full system restore? If you have never tested your backups, you are at high risk for losing irreplaceable company files.
The Launch Pad's new RevITup Managed Backup and Distaster Recovery Solution means that your data is 100% safe and secure. It also means that your data is backed up in real-time every 15 minutes on and offsite. Our solution even includes a NAS server at your location which you can run from (virtualize) if your server crashes. All of this with no up front investment!
Did you know that clearing the cache on your Browser can correct many unplained problems experieced with web forms and on interactive or ecommerce websites. If functions on a website you are visiting are not behaving as expected, try clearing the cache.
Internet Explorer
1) Select Tools > Internet Options > General
2) Click the "Delete" button under browsing history
In Firefox
1) Select Tools > Options >
2) Open the Advanced panel and click Network Tab
3) Clcik the "Clear Now" button by the Cache Settings
Featured White Paper download now The New Face of IT : Managed Services- Paving the Road to Small Business Success
Many of you have joined our RevITup Business Care Managed Service series and are already enjoying the benefits of a managed and monitored technology solution. For those of you who would like to gain a little bit more understanding of what its all about and what a managed service approach to your IT can mean for you business, take a few minutes to read the short white paper above. Then give us a call and we can tell you exactly what kind of savings and benefits it can bring to your organziation.
We welcome your feedback regarding the newsletter. Feel free to send suggestions on information you would like to see included in future issues.
Expert Advice,Resources & Tips for Small Business IT Solutions
This issue of Zero2Sixty brings you exciting updates on our new RevITup Business Care Managed Service Program, more technology tools and recommendations from the The Launch Pad team and other tips that will help you streamline your business, maximize your technology and boost your bottom line. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In This Issue April 2008 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take Advantage of our Enhanced Customer Portal Released last month, our new LiveConnect Online Support Portal offers instant access to our enhanced online ticketing system, service reports, a knowledge base, invoice history and configurable member access. Not only can you create and track service requests in real time with automated status updates, but now you can view executive service summary and management reports, search your company's personalized knowledge base, view and print invoices and set up your team members with defined levels of user access.
Referral Program Pays $$ Thank you to all of the clients and partners who took advantage of our Launch Pad Referral Program in the first Quarter of 2008. Your referrals were responsible for 13 new Launch Pad clients. Our Lucky Clover campaign was a great success thanks to all of your efforts.
Join the club and share the love and love. Tell us about a company you think would be a great fit for our Web or IT services and you can earn real dollars or services dollar.
The end of 2007 marked the move into our new digs on Gunn Highway in Odessa. We love our new space complete spacious offices, outdoor deck (and run for the occassional canine visitors), two beautiful conference rooms and lots of growing room.
The building was brand new so our final move in was a bit delayed but we are all settled in now and enjoying it. Stop in for a visit when our are out our way. We would love to show you around.
2107 Gunn Hwy
Odessa, FL 33556
(billing/mailing address still 18130 Jorene Rd. Odessa)
For both prospective and curerent customers, The Launch Pad offers a complimentary security and problem prevention audit to pin-point where you are most vulnerable to hardware failure, hackers, virus or spyware and data loss. We'll provide you with a complete network report card and show you any areas that need attention.
To ask about a free, no-obligation problem prevention audit, contact Randy Todd, Client Solutions Manager at 813-920-0788 x202 or e-mail rtodd@launchpadonline.com.
Save the date! On May 12th, Ilene Rosoff, Launch Pad President has been invited back by CDW and Inc. Magazine's Small Business Review to present the second in a series of small business technology webinars. The topic of this webinar is "The Great Backup Myths: How to avoid disaster and protect yourcompany" If you missed the 1st webinar, you can view the archive in the Small Business Center of our website. Stay tuned for complete event details and registration.
Join us in May!
Give Your Tapes the Pink Slip RevITup with our New Low-cost Onsite/Remote Managed Backup Series
What if you walked into your office tomorrow and discovered that and discovered that a virus, hacker or system crash had destroyed every filte, database and e-mail on your server. How confident are you that your data could be restored? How often are you testing your tape backups or doing a full system restore? If you have never tested your backups, you are at high risk for losing irreplaceable company files.
The Launch Pad's new RevITup Managed Backup and Distaster Recovery Solution means that your data is 100% safe and secure. It also means that your data is backed up in real-time every 15 minutes on and offsite. Our solution even includes a NAS server at your location which you can run from (virtualize) if your server crashes. All of this with no up front investment!
Did you know that clearing the cache on your Browser can correct many unplained problems experieced with web forms and on interactive or ecommerce websites. If functions on a website you are visiting are not behaving as expected, try clearing the cache.
Internet Explorer
1) Select Tools > Internet Options > General
2) Click the "Delete" button under browsing history
In Firefox
1) Select Tools > Options >
2) Open the Advanced panel and click Network Tab
3) Clcik the "Clear Now" button by the Cache Settings
Featured White Paper download now The New Face of IT : Managed Services- Paving the Road to Small Business Success
Many of you have joined our RevITup Business Care Managed Service series and are already enjoying the benefits of a managed and monitored technology solution. For those of you who would like to gain a little bit more understanding of what its all about and what a managed service approach to your IT can mean for you business, take a few minutes to read the short white paper above. Then give us a call and we can tell you exactly what kind of savings and benefits it can bring to your organziation.
We welcome your feedback regarding the newsletter. Feel free to send suggestions on information you would like to see included in future issues.
This issue of Zero2Sixty brings you exciting updates on our new RevITup Business Care Managed Service Program, more technology tools and recommendations from the The Launch Pad team and other tips that will help you streamline your business, maximize your technology and boost your bottom line. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In This Issue April 2008 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take Advantage of our Enhanced Customer Portal Released last month, our new LiveConnect Online Support Portal offers instant access to our enhanced online ticketing system, service reports, a knowledge base, invoice history and configurable member access. Not only can you create and track service requests in real time with automated status updates, but now you can view executive service summary and management reports, search your company's personalized knowledge base, view and print invoices and set up your team members with defined levels of user access.
Referral Program Pays $$ Thank you to all of the clients and partners who took advantage of our Launch Pad Referral Program in the first Quarter of 2008. Your referrals were responsible for 13 new Launch Pad clients. Our Lucky Clover campaign was a great success thanks to all of your efforts.
Join the club and share the love and love. Tell us about a company you think would be a great fit for our Web or IT services and you can earn real dollars or services dollar.
The end of 2007 marked the move into our new digs on Gunn Highway in Odessa. We love our new space complete spacious offices, outdoor deck (and run for the occassional canine visitors), two beautiful conference rooms and lots of growing room.
The building was brand new so our final move in was a bit delayed but we are all settled in now and enjoying it. Stop in for a visit when our are out our way. We would love to show you around.
2107 Gunn Hwy
Odessa, FL 33556
(billing/mailing address still 18130 Jorene Rd. Odessa)
For both prospective and curerent customers, The Launch Pad offers a complimentary security and problem prevention audit to pin-point where you are most vulnerable to hardware failure, hackers, virus or spyware and data loss. We'll provide you with a complete network report card and show you any areas that need attention.
To ask about a free, no-obligation problem prevention audit, contact Randy Todd, Client Solutions Manager at 813-920-0788 x202 or e-mail rtodd@launchpadonline.com.
Save the date! On May 12th, Ilene Rosoff, Launch Pad President has been invited back by CDW and Inc. Magazine's Small Business Review to present the second in a series of small business technology webinars. The topic of this webinar is "The Great Backup Myths: How to avoid disaster and protect yourcompany" If you missed the 1st webinar, you can view the archive in the Small Business Center of our website. Stay tuned for complete event details and registration.
Join us in May!
Give Your Tapes the Pink Slip RevITup with our New Low-cost Onsite/Remote Managed Backup Series
What if you walked into your office tomorrow and discovered that and discovered that a virus, hacker or system crash had destroyed every filte, database and e-mail on your server. How confident are you that your data could be restored? How often are you testing your tape backups or doing a full system restore? If you have never tested your backups, you are at high risk for losing irreplaceable company files.
The Launch Pad's new RevITup Managed Backup and Distaster Recovery Solution means that your data is 100% safe and secure. It also means that your data is backed up in real-time every 15 minutes on and offsite. Our solution even includes a NAS server at your location which you can run from (virtualize) if your server crashes. All of this with no up front investment!
Did you know that clearing the cache on your Browser can correct many unplained problems experieced with web forms and on interactive or ecommerce websites. If functions on a website you are visiting are not behaving as expected, try clearing the cache.
Internet Explorer
1) Select Tools > Internet Options > General
2) Click the "Delete" button under browsing history
In Firefox
1) Select Tools > Options >
2) Open the Advanced panel and click Network Tab
3) Clcik the "Clear Now" button by the Cache Settings
Featured White Paper download now The New Face of IT : Managed Services- Paving the Road to Small Business Success
Many of you have joined our RevITup Business Care Managed Service series and are already enjoying the benefits of a managed and monitored technology solution. For those of you who would like to gain a little bit more understanding of what its all about and what a managed service approach to your IT can mean for you business, take a few minutes to read the short white paper above. Then give us a call and we can tell you exactly what kind of savings and benefits it can bring to your organziation.
We welcome your feedback regarding the newsletter. Feel free to send suggestions on information you would like to see included in future issues.
Zero2Sixty - When Backups Fail So Do Small Businesses
Volume XII July/August 2007
You've Worked Too Hard to Gamble with the Security of Your Business The most common point of failure for small businesses trying to manage their technology is properly protecting their
digital data. While hardware failures and catastrophic events such as fire, flood, theft or hurricanes are a fact of life, unrecoverable loss of your company data doesn't
have to be. In a recent article about business continuity, the US Small Business Association (SBA) reported that small to medium businesses are the most vulnerable in the
event of an emergency. The main reason is that most SMBs have not taken the necessary steps to prepare to protect their assets, number one being their vital business records and
digital data.
While it's hard to argue with the importance of preparing your business for an emergency, it's easy to put off planning and implementation due to
day-to-day concerns and resource constraints. However, the SBA estimates that 25 to 40% of businesses do not reopen after a disaster with a leading factor being the inability to
recover core company data. Moreover, industry statistics show that standard tape backup fails to restore as expected up to 50% of the time in small business
environments. Imagine losing your accounting data or your all of your e-mails.
The primary causes of backup failure are improper monitoring, improper setup, failure to
check equipment and jobs simply not being run at all on a regular basis. E-mail data, an often overlooked area of small business backup because it is not centralized on a
server, is highly vulnerable. A recent study disclosed that it takes 19 days and costs in excess $15,000 to reenter just 20 megabytes worth of sales and marketing
data. Retrieving accounting records is even worse; they require over 21 days of work and cost over $19,000 to retype. For many businesses, this kind of cost can close your
doors. Here at The Launch Pad, in the last 90 days alone we've seen two of our clients who thought they had good backup solutions in place, fall victim to major data loss and
were not able to properly restore needed files. The good news is that all of this is avoidable and that reliable systems can be implemented without breaking the bank!.
Keep your Business Running: Five Steps for Disaster Planning for your Technology Systems more info >> With lightening and hurricane season upon us, a good disaster plan is essential for your organization
Receive expert IT advice, money-saving tips and
informative articles on computer, web and IT solutions simplified for non- technical, small business owners and managers.
Managed Backup Services from The Launch Pad Hopefully you have a robust backup and recovery scheme in place in case something should happen to this valuable data. Through tiered storage, data
image snap-shotting, backup-to-disk, and/or virtual tape libraries, tools for backing up and recovering data have improved dramatically from the old standard process of
backing up directly from primary disk to tape (and hopefully being able to locate and recover from tape back to disk when needed). The problem is that most small
businesses don't have an internal IT department to manage this process. As a result, a solid strategy for data protection that is tested regularly is simply not
present. The Launch Pad can take care of that for you by designing a complete, managed backup solution tailored to your needs and budget, regardless of whether you have
zero employees or one hundred. Call us today or e-mail sales@launchpadonline.com to request a no-cost site audit and proposal for your managed backup solution.
feature
Backup Best Practices for Small Business
*Backup Software, Scheduling and Management
– These are most critical components of successful data protection. The best equipment money can buy doesn't do you any good if you don't have the right software, don't maintain properly scheduled backups and don't manage and test your backup process by checking your backup sets regularly and periodically restoring samples of your data. Without proper management and employing backup best practices, none of the rest matters and this is typically where we see our small business customers fall down.
Many software packages exist for backing up software but there a few tried and
true industry standards. Some of the better known products include Symantec Backup Exec, BrightStor ArcServe Backup, Dantz Retropspect, LogMeIn Backup and Stomp
Desktop Backup are at the top of our list. Some are specifically designed to run on servers and others are for desktop PCs only. Some are designed for tape-type
backup sets, others are designed for disk to disk strategies or creating data snapshots. Many backup devices come with versions of industry standards like Retrospect or
Backup Exec designed to run with their particular device.
The Scoop on Backup Options for Small Business
Tape Backup
– Tape back is the most traditional method of backup. It hasn't really changed much over the years. Removable magnetic tape cartridges are used to create backup data sets of designated data. These proprietary file formats used to create backup sets are not accessible like files on your hard drive but instead need to go through a restoration process using the same software that created the original backup set. Tape backup can be a single device where tapes are manually alternated on a scheduled basis or a jukebox-like device, called an autoloader, which holds and shuffles multiple tapes.
Pros:Tape backup is a traditional backup method that has prevailed through the years. Removable media
allows you to keep cartridges off site. All major backup software works with tape backup. Many tape backup options, brands and sizes are available and are
comparatively inexpensive.
Cons:Tape is relatively slow to back up data. Media has a short shelf life and
is prone to damage. Tape restoration can be difficult, particularly if data is being backed up incrementally (for example only changed files or partial sets of
data). Tapes cannot be easily accessed like a hard drive to quickly grab individual files. Disk-to-Disk Backup - This has actually come to have a few
definitions but essentially it describes backing your data up to another hard disk or group of hard disks, some of which can be attached directly to your network. There
are a number of flavors of disk-to-disk backup. It could be something as simple as having an external hard disk attached to your PC or it could describe a complex set of
storage devices that attach directly to your network each with multiple hard disks inside.
Pros: Speed and reliability are two major factors that make disk-to-disk backup very appealing. Depending on how data is stored and
backed up, files can be easily and quickly restored. Disk-to-disk capacity can be much larger than tape which makes it practical in environments where the amount of data
needing to be backed up is fairly extensive. While tape media can go bad within a year or two and is somewhat fragile, disk backups are durable and can last many
years. Restoration is easier, more reliable and much faster.
Cons:Depending on the type of device used,
disk-to-disk backup can be more expensive than tape. Network type storage device with multiple hard drives are not easily moved off premise to be stored in case of
disaster. Not all the traditional backup software supports disk-to-disk backup yet.
Other Removable Media – Some companies use writable CDs and DVDs
or USB Flash Drives to backup data. While this can be an effective as a quick way to transfer files or archive non-critical data for a short time, this is NOT an
effective method of backup. The amount of data able to be stored on this media is very small. Plus this type of removable media, particularly flash drives are very
vulnerable to damage.
Remote Backup - This is really a kind of disk-to-disk backup. However, you are backing up to someone else's disk across the
Internet. This usually incurs some kind of monthly fee or a fee based on the amount of storage being used. Many remote backup companies allow easy online signup and
have tools on their website to help you manage the backup process. Remote backup has become much more popular over the last couple of years as Internet speed has
increased and the cost has dropped considerably. Companies are springing up all over that provide this service.
Pros:These services provide for easy, off-site storage of your backup data, while it remains readily available when you need it. Companies that provide online backup services
generally build multiple redundancies into their systems and often provide 24/7 staffing and monitoring. They often use "data vaults," so that your backed up information is
physically secured. No hardware investment is required.
Cons:The biggest downside to remote backup is
speed both in backing up and in large file restorations. Backing up multiple gigabits of data can take hours and hours. Restoration is the same. Plus, depending
on how much data your need to back up, remote services can be costly. If your data requirements are not large, particularly for one-person type operations, this can be a
very appealing solution.
(The Launch Pad offers remote backup solutions to customer for all or part of your data management
starting at $14.95 per month. Our systems offer redundant data servers in secure data centers with 24 hour support. Contact our sales team at 888.920-3450 for more
information).
Data Snapshots
- Data snapshotting is a process that involves making copies of critical data in regular time intervals usually to another hard drive or hard drive volume on the network. These snapshot are normally rewritten and updated in regular intervals as well and can be used to quickly restore data that might have recently been damaged. Organizations that need constantly update their data with transactions (banks, call centers, large online ordering facilities) use snapshotting continually. Data snapshotting is typically used as a supplement to regular backups not in place of. Many server products such as Windows Server 2003 have this ability built in. Additionally, desktop products such as Norton GoBack use this technology to create restore points on your hard drive.
The 5 "Rs" of Sound Backup Management
Replication.
Make multiple copies of all important data
Removability.
Store backup media offsite on in a disaster-proof vault
Reliability.
Utilize proven, user friendly hardware, media and software
Recoverability.
Test your backup by restoring a few important files
Regularity. Backup
data on a consistent, frequent schedule with a plan for periodic data archiving.
small business IT solutions & advice for your organization
Planning for Disaster?
Some questions small businesses should ask themselves are:
1) Are we prepared to relocate temporarily?
2) Do we have copies of, and access to, vital business records?
(The SBA recommends backup data is stored at an offsite location at least 50 miles away from the main site.)
3) Do we have access to vital business applications?
(emergency payroll, accounting, access to suppliers and resources)
4) How much data would we lose in a disaster between backups?
5) How quickly can we recover from a disaster?
6) How long would we be without a connection to our customers?
Backup Data VS Archiving: What you should know and why you should do it?
Backup and Archiving: Different Purpose; Different Process
Backup and archiving are two distinct processes with
different objectives and requirements. With backup, the objective is to ensure that a recent copy of production data is available for recovery in the event of a disaster,
outage, or accidental loss. The process is to make a copy of production system data and store it until overwritten by a new version.
With digital archiving, the objective is to enable the
long-term retention and management of key data to satisfy regulatory compliance, audit, litigation support, records management, data management and new business process
requirements. The process is to remove records from production systems and preserve and keep them available for easy access and reference until the data is no longer needed
for the business.
A Four Step Approach to Archiving
Step 1: Understand that all data is not created equal.
Not all data is of equal importance or accessed as frequently, so you can plan a tiered storage approach. You're most critical data should be considered Tier 1 and should
be handled by the highest performance and most reliable storage. Secondary data and copies of production (Tier 1) data can reside on slightly lower performance, yet still
reliable storage subsystems such as burning to DVD. Data to be archived can be moved to archive-specific storage, such as secondary storage disk, archived tape or specialized
WORM (write once, read many) media or tape drives.
Step 2: Evaluate the types of data to be archived , such as e-mail, database or other. Choose appropriate software and hardware systems to manage the efficient archiving
of the data and also the search and retrieval of the data when needed.
Step 3: Determine how much you want or need to archive,
the expected growth, and how long you plan to retain the data. This will help you and your IT provider choose a software and hardware solution that can meet your needs
today as well as expand along with your data archive needs.
Step 4: Test, go, adjust and go again. Test your solution and establish processes and procedures to ensure that your archived data is as easy to access, search, and retrieve as planned. As
with any data movement process, you should periodically test the system for functionality and performance.
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About The Launch Pad Established in 1992, The Launch Pad is a Florida-based business solutions provider and online computer retailer. The company's goal is to offer a single source of web and technology guidance and tools to help small businesses and
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