Back it up or pack it up! Did you know that 60% of all small businesses that lose their data are out of business within 6 months? Don’t be one of them! Your New Year’s Resolution for your business should be to setup a backup solution, or evaluate the one you have. Come to TechComm this month to learn more about proper backup solutions.

1. STCC Technology Committee
January 16, 2014
Backup Solutions
Intro
 Get something in place ASAP
 Don't get paralyzed because you can't do everything
 Almost anything you do will be better than doing nothing
Considerations / Planning
 Identify the problem
 Recovery time
 Backup schedule
 Retention time
2 Distinct Problems
 Entire computer will not boot or was destroyed
 A “few” files were damaged or deleted
How Quick do you need recovery?
 When disaster hits, can you wait a few Minutes? Hours? Days?
 Faster recovery == More money
Backup Schedule
 How much can you afford to lose?
 Absolutely nothing?
 A minute?
 An hour?
 A business day?
 A whole week of work?
 Time of day
 Not necessarily in the middle of the night
 More frequent == More complex
Keep Backups for how long?
 Backup retention
 How long to keep the backups
 How many copies
 How long will it take you to discover the problem?
 Weekends + holidays = delays
 Embarrassed employees = delays
Consider the Material
 Different solutions for different stuff
 Data files
 Large files: photos, videos, audio
 Purchased programs
 Operating system
 Some material might not be on your computer
 Receipts
 Installation media
 Certificates of authenticity / Product Key Codes / Activation Codes

2. STCC Technology Committee
January 16, 2014
Backups are a Process
 Backup software is just the first step
1) Plan your backups
2) Execute the plan
3) Test now. Don't wait for a disaster!
Backup Types
 Full System Backup (OS, Applications & Data)
 Full Data Backup
 Incremental vs Differential
 Differential backup offers a full system backup at regular intervals, so naturally it
takes longer and requires more capacity.
 Example: (Weekly) Do a full backup every Sunday. Then on Monday, only files that have
changed since the full backup on Sunday. On Tuesday, only files that have changed since the
full backup on Sunday (Essentially, the Tuesday differential replaces the Monday differential)
 Incremental backup only backs up files that have changed since the last backup (full
or incremental), so it's quicker but has a longer recovery time since it has to restore
data from multiple incrementals
 Example: (Weekly) Do a full backup on Sunday and incrementals during the week. On Monday
only data that has changed since Sunday and then on Tuesday, only data that has changed
since Monday, etc. So if something happens on Saturday, you would need to use 6 backups to
restore data.
 Versioning
 allows you to keep different versions of the same file – You have edited the files
several times and don't want the next backup to over write them.
 Cloning (or Imaging)
 a hard drive creates an exact replica of a hard drive
Minimizing Risk - Common Causes & how to minimize risk for each:
 Human Error
 Proper File Security
 Software (Corruption)
 Reputable, up-to-date OS/drivers & applications
 Hardware Failure
 Quality Hardware
 Temperature - kept in room temp or cooler environment
 Redundancy
 Less Mechanical Parts
Other Considerations…
 Turn off synchronized backup, if possible
 Disconnect external backup when not in use
 A backup plan is typically more cost effective than a recovery attempt

3. STCC Technology Committee
January 16, 2014
Backup Solutions:
1) Secondary Drive in your machine (mirroring)
2) Tape Drive (old magnetic media technology - phased out)
Consider the technology – if the unit is destroyed, could you get a replacement to read the
backup medium?
1) CD/DVD (smaller capacities – maybe ok for archiving)
2) USB Flash Drive (smaller capacities)
3) External USB Hard Drive (Constant Connect)
4) External USB Hard Drive (Rotational Off-site or FireSafe)
5) Another PC
6) Cloud Storage
7) Disaster Recovery Center
Solution
Pros
Cons
Secondary Drive (mirroring)
Quick recovery
Only protects against hard drive failure
Tape Drive*
Cheap media
Old technology (phased out)
*If machine is destroyed can you find a
replacement to read the media?
CD/DVD*
Cheap media
OK for Archiving?
Limited Capacity
USB Flash
Reliability
Limited Capacities/Cost
*Smaller capacities are cheap, but larger
capacities are more expensive
External USB Hard Drive
(Constant Connect)
Capacity
External USB Hard Drive
(Rotational Offsite)
Another Machine
Cloud
Disaster Recovery Center
Capacity
Restoration History
Disaster Safe
Business Continuity
Offsite
Fast recovery time
Still Moving Parts
(unless SSDs are used)
Remember to rotate media
Still Moving Parts
(unless SSDs are used)
Onsite - subject to similar issues
Slow backup & recovery
$$$
Speed of Recovery (from fastest to slowest):
1) Connected internally in machine (SATA, etc)
2) Connected externally to machine (USB)
3) Connected to Internal Network (another PC on the network – 100 Mbps)
4) Connected to Internet (only as fast as your download speed ~ 1.5 - 50 Mbps)
- Likewise, backing up relies on your Upload Speed (~512 kbps - 10Mpbs)

4. STCC Technology Committee
Situation
Complete Destruction
Fire,
Natural Disaster
Theft/Loss
File deletion
Virus Activity
January 16, 2014
Solution
Offsite Backup:
Rotational Offsite
Cloud
Disaster Recovery Center
Any solution, provided it was not in the same place & could
have also been stolen/lost
Any Solution, but the key here is time taken to discover the
deletion
Any Solution, provided it was not also connected to the
machine at the time of infection (Ex: Cryptolocker)
Seriously, though…Backup your files!
Tech Tip: Belarc Advisor
Belarc Advisor is a piece of software that can look up your various software
installation keys, it is a free download for individuals.
http://belarc.com/