If the mantra for real
estate is location, location, location, then for disaster
recovery it's backup, backup backup. It might not cover
everything, but without it you won't get anywhere
A backup strategy
needs to cover three components:
- safe storage of
original program disks
- backup of daily
data
- backup of full
system
All three are necessary.
Safe Storage
of Program Disks. This one sounds like
a no-brainer, but it is amazing how many otherwise smart people
don't think about it. You not only need the original program disks
for your operating system, but also the disks for the software
applications you have installed. And the computer you want to
install them onto needs to be able to physically read the media.
That might seem obvious, but we have seen old specialty applications
on 5 1/4" floppies (remember them?) when none of the computers
had 5 1/4" floppy drives anymore. We've also seen floppies
that were so old they were no longer readable. So save those disks
somewhere safe, but check them out once a year to be sure they
still serve their intended purpose.
It's also a nice idea
to have copies of updates, drivers, and other bits of code that
you need to make those original applications work again. Tracking
down an esoteric driver might be tough today; next year it's sure
to be tougher.
Backup of Daily
Data. Your system probably consists
of two kinds of data: those that change frequently, which we are
calling daily data, and those that are fairly static, such as
archives or programs. Unless you have the time and resources to
do a full backup everyday, your backup strategy needs to target
that daily data and get it backed up more frequently.
When identifying the
files and directories that constitute your daily data, also consider
information that might not be changed every single day but which
is still important to smooth business or personal operation. For
example, look at:
- word processing
documents
- scanned documents
- publishing documents
(flyers, brochures, etc)
- email
- work or hobby products
(your portfolio, resume, family photographs, the Great American
Novel in progress, etc.
- newsgroups (probably
part of email)
- email attachments
- appointment schedules
- browser bookmarks
- images
- spreadsheet data
files
- financial records
(Quicken, Quickbooks, etc.)
- tax data
- customer records
The rule of thumb is:
if you aren't comfortable losing the data, and it changes more
frequently than your full system backup, consider it part of your
daily data.
Backup of Full
System. This includes the operating
system, programs, patches, all data, and the system states. In
the event of a major crash, a full backup can really reduce the
amount of time and effort to get the system back up and running
again.
Here's another one
of those things that may seem obvious: in order to restore your
backup, you need to already have enough of the backup software
on your computer to enable it to read the disks or tapes that
contain your backup. That means you'll either have a special bootable
disk or you'll have disks with enough operating system and backup/restore
software to get your computer ready to read your precious backup.
Safeguard those disks! Without them, your backup is just a paperweight.
Remember, good disasters
don't just happen, they need forethought and planning. To make
your next disaster a good one, plan for it now by developing a
backup strategy. When the inevitable happens, you'll be glad you
did.
by Evelyne Stalzer
