Volume 4 Issue 3
March 2006
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LET’S TALK BACKUPS...AGAIN!
by Karen Strickland
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Local - 616.997.8808
Fax - 616.997.9317
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It is time to remind everyone again to review your
backup procedures. We are coming back into
storm season, which increases your risk of
computer failure. Let’s do a quick review from my
previous article regarding backups.
about that of an adult’s thumb. They plug into an
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open USB port on your computer and your system
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automatically assigns it the next available drive
President
letter. You should see it listed in “My Computer” as
a “Removable Drive”. Because they are given a
Greg Slater - [email protected]
drive letter, you can use them just as you would a
IT Client Managers
There are 4 main steps to protect your data:
floppy disk (except even the smallest, 16 MB, holds
Ryan
McMillen
- [email protected]
1. Do Backups! Your data won’t be protected if the same amount of data as 12 - 1.44MB floppy
you don’t do backups of some type
Gary Slager - [email protected]
disks). This is probably not the answer if you have
Karen Strickland - [email protected]
2. Check your backup logs. That will generally multiple GB of data to back up. The sizes for these
usually run from 16 Megabytes (MB) up to 2GB now
show you whether there were any errors during
Scott Toney - [email protected]
with some 4GB drives coming out recently. Get a
the process.
Jeff Verry [email protected]
couple of these and rotate them for backups each
3. Test your ability to restore. Even the best of time your data changes.
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backups can be damaged over time. If you
External USB Hard Drives: If you have more data to
haven’t had to do a restore in the last 3 months,
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back up, you can take a step up from the “thumb
you should run a test to make sure your system
drive”
and
get
a
USB
hard
drive.
They
work
very
your source for...
can still read what is in your backup.
much the same as the “thumb drive”, but the sizes
• CDROM Drives
4. Re-evaluate your backup process
range all the way up to 1 TB. The more common
• Thumb Drives
periodically. Any time you make a major
sizes range from 80GB up to 300GB and are very
• External USB Hard Drives
software change your requirements for backing
reasonably priced. Again you would want a
up that software may change. Usually this can be minimum of 2 that you would rotate. One caution
caught quickly if you are checking your backup
when using these USB drives. You want to make
logs (Step #2) regularly.
sure that the USB ports on your computer are USB
2.0 (High-speed) otherwise your backup may take a
very long time to run. The High-speed USB 2.0
New Backup Trends
ports transfer data up to 40 times faster than the
Since I will be using some of the size
older USB ports.
abbreviations for data, I thought a quick little
Online Backups: This is when you backup your
comparison would be nice so everyone can
system to another location over the Internet. More
understand the differences.
and more of these services are popping up every
KB – Kilobyte (approximately 1 Thousand bytes)
week. For most people this is not a good option yet
MB – Megabyte (approximately 1 Million bytes)
because their Internet Upload speed is not fast
GB – Gigabyte (approximately 1 Billion bytes)
enough to do their backup in a short period of time.
TB – Terabyte (approximately 1 Trillion bytes)
M
Software Improvements: Backup software has also
evolved over the past few years. Capabilities have
been added like the ability to send notifications and
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a copy of the backup log to anyone with email or
network fax. With the widespread use of Windows
XP, the ability to remotely log in to workstations and
servers to check the status of backups can allow
administrators to use their time more efficiently. The
CDROM Drives: Most computers now come with use of Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Copy services (in
at least a CDRW Drive to allow burning CD-R and Windows 2003 Server) can also make life easier for
CanoScan® LiDE 60
CD-RW discs. The process has become much
administrators by giving them the choice to give
easier with the Windows XP operating system.
• 4 easy buttons to Scan, Copy, E-mail
their users some control over restoring their own
CD-R discs are used to archive since you can’t
files. Some backup programs are also capable now
and create PDF files
reuse them. To back up data to a CD, use a CD- of writing directly to optical discs (CD & DVD).
• One USB 2.0 Hi-Speed cable for USB
RW disc since they can be used like a floppy
and power
If you need help in determining what your best
drive and you can reuse them.
options are or if you have any questions about how • Maximum 19,200 dpi software enThumb (“Flash”) Drives: Floppy drives are now
hanced resolution
you are currently backing up your data, please give
optional equipment on computers and are being
us a call. We would be more than happy to help.
• Scanner stand for upright scanning
replaced with portable USB drives called “flash
• Advanced Z-Lid™ expansion top for
drives” or “thumb drives” depending on who you
“Relax…we’re
on
IT”
scanning bulky items
talk to. I first heard them called “thumb drives”
• Automatic retouching and enhanceand I assume that the name came from their size,
ment for photos
Backups always have been and always will be
very important, but the methods of doing them
are evolving. Up until a few years ago, the
traditional methods of doing backups were tape
and floppy disks. While tapes are still being used
in some circumstances, the newer methods listed
below are being used more and more.