We talk a lot about backups here at Dave’s Computers in New Jersey. They are a cheap and easy way to keep your data safe and stops you needing our expert data recovery services. Rather than waiting for us to recover your data, you could do it yourself and be up and running again in no time.
Even if you’re making backups of your important data, I bet you’re making one of these three common mistakes.
Single backup
For business or critical personal data, a single backup just won’t cut it. It is a single point of failure and is almost as susceptible as your original data. To be truly effective, you need three copies of critical data. The original on your hard drive, a copy on a different medium and a copy either in the cloud or stored offsite.
Then, whatever happens, you have at least one copy of your data to work with. With cloud storage being so cheap, I tend to recommend a copy in the cloud and a copy on an external drive. Cheap, simple, secure.
Scheduling backups
Taking a single backup and then forgetting to do it again is another common mistake. That’s fine for static data that doesn’t change but not much good for data that is continually updated. If your data is updated frequently, you need to update your backup just as frequently.
For most businesses, a daily backup is sufficient. For home users, a weekly backup may work. Much depends on what you want to back up. As you can automate the entire process, it makes sense to do it as often as you need to.
Not verifying your backup
Creating backups is all very well but have you checked them? Have you made sure your files are accessible and that nothing is missing or corrupted? File copying is now very accurate but not infallible. Regularly testing your backups when any significant changes are made is essential. If you don’t check, you could be adding bad data to bad data and that isn’t good for anyone.
This may all sound like a lot of work for a simple data backup but it’s important if you value that data. We store more and more in digital format now so it pays to keep it all safe with backups and then to keep those backups safe.
If you have any questions about backups or data recovery, contact Dave’s Computers in New Jersey. We would be happy to help!
