What is a Backup?

I have several Small Business clients who "back up" their data by attaching large USB hard drives to their computers, and copying key files and folders to them. While this is an excellent way to archive or synchronize data, they are surprised when I tell them this is not really a data backup. Of course, they then ask me to explain the difference?

• Archiving - is when you make a complete copy of a folder and all its contents, usually to a tape, CD or DVD, and then store it for reference or future retrieval.
• Synchronizing - is when you have two folders, usually on different machines, and you take steps to ensure that every file and subfolder which is on one machine is exactly duplicated on the other.
• Backup - is when you store files and folders for protection against accidental deletion or alteration. In backups, you usually save multiple versions of the same files and or folders, allowing you to "roll back" to the way the files or folders were at a particular date or time.

Archiving and synchronizing save copies of files and folders.

• Archiving saves many copies of the same files and folders 
• Synchronizing saves only the most recent copy of every file and folder.

Backups save versions of files and folders. Think of backups as the perfect combination of archiving and synchronizing.

• Like synchronizing, you always have the latest version of the files and folders you backup. 
• Like archiving, you have every version of every changed file and folder in your backup list.

• Unlike synchronizing, you have every version of each file and folder, not just the most recent. 
• Unlike archiving, you have only the versions of files that have changed since your last backup, not multiple copies of identical files.

In the "copy to large external drive" scenario above, archiving takes up too much space, since full copies of the entire target folder is required. Synchronizing lacks the ability to access previous versions of the target files -- if a file is infected with a virus, then synchronized, you now have two versions of a bad file, and no good file to recover with.
A backup would allow you to select an uninfected version and copy it over the infected file. This is why we consider proper backups to be a key part of data protection, along with a good antivirus and firewall  program .

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Back that @$# up!

It's the single biggest technology mistake Small Businesses make.

They use email. They surf the web. Computers are cheaper than ever, so everyone in the office has a pretty decent one. And more (though still not *most*) Small Business computers have an anti-virus program running, and some sort of firewall, on the computer itself, or at the Internet connection guarding the entire office.

So while a greater number of machines are protected against intrusion or infection, few are protected against failure. Hard drive crash. Power surge. Even accidental deletion of irreplaceable data.

Image via Wikipedia
Given the past few years, it's easy to get caught up in, well... fear - especially when credit card companies and government agencies are routinely compromised.

But let's be practical: your Small Business is in much greater danger of a critical computer dying because of mechanical failure or human error, than it is of being damaged irreparably by a malicious program.

Your data IS your business: it's the reason your Small Business even has any computers, unless you make them or repair them. Creating, storing, sharing, and manipulating information - "data", in geekspeak - is what computers do for all businesses, regardless of their size or trade.

We're all doing a better job protecting our data *from* - identity thieves, viruses and worms, prying eyes. But how well are we simply protecting our data?

Anybody out there that has ever had the hard drive of an essential computer die understands completely the importance of data protection. And even those of us who haven't actually experienced this can easily imagine the disaster this could be. Yet, time and again, the important information upon which Small Businesses depend is left to chance, luck and the hope that nothing goes wrong.

It's a shame, but the number one way I meet new Small Business clients is potential data loss situations. The smaller the business, the more likely they have no backup at all.

Fortunately, most of these cases have been "near misses", but I dread the scenario when I have to tell a Small Business owner there is nothing I can do, because the disk is dead beyond restoring, and they have NO BACKUP to retrieve data from.

So what's the problem. More usefully, what's the *solution*? In my experience, the problem is two-fold: understanding what to backup, and finding a way to backup data that isn't so complicated that you eventually stop doing it.

These factors aren't that tough to resolve, given the proper experience and insight. Both of which I will share with you in the next few posts which, when finished, should help you actually back your stuff up.

And avoid that fatal, OM%G disaster...

peace

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