Using Off-site Back Ups

People are always deleting, modifying, and otherwise changing computer data

. Unfortunately some of this change is undesired, and can be fatal to a businesses' records. One dropped hard drive or scratched CD could potentially destroy hundreds of transaction records, crippling the ability of a business to submit proper tax documentation.

While dropped hard drives and broken CDs are not preventable there is a way to ensure data is never completely wiped out. It is simply to use off-site back ups. Off-site back ups can be as simple as copying data onto several USB flash drives and distributing them to different locations. This is usually too simple for businesses constantly modifying data though, making dedicated servers with large hard drives in distant data centers optimal for holding precious data. Opting to use these combined with a script to make back ups nightly works in a very automated fashion, reducing the time IT departments would have to spend on the issue, allowing them to focus on in-house issues.

Places ideal to locate these dedicated servers are 1, 2, and 3. All are distant from North American soil, offering redundancy in the occasion a serious problem breaks out in the United States. Their distant nature unfortunately makes them hard to manage , thus it is optimal to choose managed servers. Encryption would also be a wise choice, especially if the servers are backing up confidential data. This encryption is not hard to set up, nor is it expensive. It also is required to be used on certain personal data held by businesses, depending on governmental and corporate regulations.

An important choice to make regarding off-site back ups is their frequency. Back ups every night may be suitable, but so may back ups every hour. The choice depends on how often data is usually changed, and how whether the server being backed up can handle the stress. Backing up every five minutes can often cause a server to crash, since it would have to initiate the back up and handle its normal requests at the same time and have no time to cool off. In these cases a version control system is used. A version control system will usually work by using diff files, which are files only listing the differences from an original. By having only differences recorded on the back up server, a tremendous load can be taken off the primary server.

Regardless of the load imposed, off-site back ups are useful and important in maintaining data integrity and reliability. They help keep data safe, secure, and redundant in the worst of situations.

by: Daniel McFalgerson

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