Data Recovery – the importance of data backups
Imagine that you are on your computer at work when suddenly all of the lights go out and the computer shuts down. After a few minutes the power is restored. You reboot your computer only to find that an error message appears. It tells you that a fatal error occurred, that some important data has disappeared. Situations such as this happen all too often the good news is that there are key safeguards, one of which is data recovery that can significantly reduce their occurrence.
Primary and the most fail-safe method of preparing data recovery are data backups. Data backup refers to the copying of computer’s information so that these copies may be restored through data recovery process after some fatal event. Backups are useful primarily for two purposes: to restore a computer to an operational state following an accident (also called disaster recovery), and to recover information files after they have been deleted or corrupted (file or data recovery). Backups are usually the last line of defense against data loss (but also the most important one); they require much time and consequently are the least convenient to use. The more important the data that is stored in the computer, the greater the need for backing up the data. Also, the probability of having to go through the data recovery process increases with the amount of information that is stored.
Why data backup is so important? In today’s world, information is more important than money. And a company that loses access to its critical data for more than 48 hours will likely be put out of business within one year. The necessity of data backup allows for quick and successful data recovery which grows with the size of the company the larger it is, the bigger the danger of data loss.
- The main causes of data loss may be divided into following categories:
Human errors – deletion of a file or program by mistake, misplacement of CDs or floppies, errors in administrating databases - Crimes (intentional acts) including thievery, hacking, industrial espionage
- Natural (random) causes – including power failures, hardware failures, a sudden software crash or freeze, software bugs
- Disaster – fire, flood, tornado, earthquake etc.
To prevent data loss a company must choose the right data backup strategy. It consists of many steps choosing the data repository model (from unstructured to continuous), right storage media (from floppy drives to magnetic tapes), and managing the existing copies (they can be destroyed during the same accident) They all have a big impact on successful data recovery, as well as on the well-being of a successful company.
How to Use Vulnerability Metrics to Prevent IT Disasters
Using vulnerability metrics to prevent IT disasters sounds like a complicated procedure, but it’s something that any business can implement. With a basic understanding of how the process works, this is a tool that can help you prioritize security issues and help you to address them efficiently.
What are Vulnerability Metrics?
A vulnerability metric is a set of values that are assigned to a variety of network and application security issues. In a nutshell, the metric addresses how widely known a vulnerability is, how at risk your business is from it, and what the impact of this vulnerability would be if exploited. The more widely known a vulnerability is, the more attackers could be using it and the more likely it is that a system will have preventative measures in place to stop the attack. There are a variety of metrics available, but at their heart this is what they do.
Using Vulnerability Metrics
Properly utilizing the data garnered from the vulnerability metric is important. For example, how often does your company search for and implement software patches? If your company does this weekly, the longest you can have a known operating system loophole open is one week. If your company patches monthly, you could have a full month with a weakness open, waiting to be exploited. Knowing what your weaknesses are and how to prioritize them can keep attackers out and your data and resources safe.
It should be noted that a vulnerability metric is not a real-time system. There are many metrics available that are free or available for a minimal charge, but they do not include the training and knowledge to be able to properly interpret the data. One cost-effective way of obtaining this knowledge without the expense of a full-time employee is to hire a consultant. The IT consultant can help assess the data and ensure that the metrics are being put to their best use, and you can hire them on an as-needed basis. A security professional can ensure you are implementing the suggested changes to keep your system safe.
Using vulnerability metrics to help prevent IT disasters isn’t difficult. Finding your weaknesses, understanding what they could do, and learning how best to prevent them is a basic security need, and the metric can provide a structure for this. Used in conjunction with an experienced consultant, these metrics can be invaluable in protecting your business from a variety of IT disasters.
Network Scalability for Your Business
When a business is just starting out, the temptation is to keep expenses low in order to get through the critical first few years. After all, you have other start-up costs and finances to take into consideration.
However, when setting up a computer network for your growing business, you should also take into consideration scalability. Network scalability is the ability of your computer network to grow with your business as your needs change. Not taking scalability into account can mean spending more money on infrastructure down the road.
What is Network Scalability?
One of the definitions of network scalability is the ability of your computer network to handle the amount of traffic that runs on it. When a business is starting out and is relatively small with a handful of users, having a scalable computer network may seem to be an unnecessary expense, since the smallest amount will seem sufficient. However, on the contrary, you must remember that as your company grows, your business technology needs will also change.
While a business is small, a shared communication line may be all that is needed to ensure that the office can access the Internet. However, more users and more complicated online communication needs mean that you’ll also have greater network bandwidth needs. As a company adds more users, the need to do more downloading or transferring of files, will require more bandwidth and faster speeds, the original network equipment needs to be able to handle that traffic. By understanding what future needs are likely to be, a network architect can choose equipment that will be able to grow with you.
At the same time, while a business is still getting off the ground, a handful of users may find that sharing one printer, locally hosted and shared on someone’s machine, to be a fine arrangement. Once again, as that business grows and adds more users it will increased printing needs, this former arrangement may no longer be sufficient. Investing in a network printer that will allow multiple user access may be more expensive at first but will pay off in usability and lack of downtime in the future.
How to Plan for Future Growth through Network Scalability
By investing in technology that can grow with your business, you can rest assured that your computer network will grow with your business. Though your business may not use the full capabilities of certain devices from the very beginning, having that flexibility for growth and expansion can help.
For most business owners, these needs can be addressed by your IT consultant or technical department. This is yet another reason why it pays to consult with an IT specialist early on in a business’s operations. Keeping scalability in mind while your business is just starting out will help to ensure that your computer network will grow with your business needs. Investing in technology that can grow with your business is always a smart choice.
The Importance of Server Backup Systems
We all know how important server backup systems and regularly saved work is. We’ve all been the victim of a wrong button pushed once or a power surge that can eradicate entire documents that have been the focus of your attention for hours. However, consider what kind of damage this brings to companies working on a larger scale. What if you have thousands of documents and files that have suddenly vanished?
Hourly, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly Data Storage?
The problem with server backup systems and saving data is that it can be a time-consuming task. Manually backing up your files might seem ideal – especially if you work almost entirely with documents on your computer – but can easily take up several minutes of every hour. This can result in hours each year of lost productivity. Daily saving is a little less time-intensive but can still become a burden over time. Weekly or monthly storage might seem more realistic until you lose that entire week’s worth of work during a hard disk failure or other setback.
Server backup systems can step in to save some of this lost time and effort, especially if you use a system designed with productivity in mind. Many systems operate automatically each night after you close the office for the night. A little more costly than simply moving all your files to an external hard drive every night, they can streamline everything by only uploading those files that were changed during the day or that underwent regular maintenance. But because it doesn’t cut into the workday or require activity on your part or on the part of your employees, it can quickly become an invaluable business tool.
Most data storage experts also recommend that you do an additional weekly backup in addition to an automated daily option. This should usually go one step further in terms of protection and security, often including storage in physical form in an offsite safe or over a network on an offsite server. If you implement these steps early on in your business, it will quickly become a habit and take up even less time than you imagined.
Keeping Your Information Safe by using Server Backup Systems
No matter what type of backup solution you choose, make sure security is always at the forefront of your mind. Regardless of whether you’re looking to remain secure against theft, physical damage, or future loss, remember that backup and data storage is only effective if you keep the information secure. Never keep all your information in the same place, and make sure that those who have access to it are authorized.
The art of Task Automation and Corrective Processing
The last few years were a very good time for the IT market. After a great depression that occurred in the beginning of the decade, the future looks very promising. It is also much easier to find a job in the IT market. However, when you are trained in using task automation and corrective processing methods, your chance to find a job grows even more along with your potential salary. Those skills are in high demand now!
What exactly is task automation and corrective processing? Nowadays those two skills are used in almost every aspect of computer science. If you find a job as a network administrator, or as a programmer, you will use those two methods almost every day.
First let’s take a closer look at task automation. Let’s say that someone finds a job as a system administrator. He could easily spend every minute of every day at work performing periodic maintenance tasks unless he finds a method of automation. Automation entails creating scripts that the system can execute at a particular time each day, week, or month. Automation also includes the simplification of interactive tasks by creating scripts or programs. Tasks that are repeated often and are complicated or tedious are good candidates for both simplification and automation.
As you see, task automation is in fact a very simple process. Corrective processing is a little more complicated. However, this method also can, and sometimes must, be used almost everywhere, even outside the IT industry. Almost everywhere where data processing is used, there is a place for corrective processing. It may be something’s as simple as purifying html code, to a little more complicated calculations involving Hubble’s telescope.
In the IT business, corrective processing is mostly used to check for errors in new software, but that~s not all. It is also used for optimization, like clearing or simplifying the program code to make it run faster or be better read by search engine robots. There are also many new IT companies where you can find a job that is concentrated solely on corrective processing. Such companies are usually sub-hired by other, bigger ones to check on their product. Even one of the biggest producers of antivirus software is outsourcing corrective processing of its products, so the demand for corrective processing specialists is high indeed.
But the real art is connecting task automation and corrective processing into one, single process. People who have obtained both skills can find a job almost everywhere, and for quite a good salary. So, if you are currently trying to find a job, it would be a good idea to learn at least one, if not both skills. Your chances to find a well-paid job will grow!
The power of Automated Alerting for hard drive recovery
You are sitting in a cafe with your friends when suddenly your cell phone rings. When you look at the screen, you see the new messagereport. While reading it, you find out that there was a power shortage in your company building and that hard drive recovery of all of your computers was successful. Then you can sit back and enjoy the rest of the evening or run to the company’s office depending on the specific situation. You know everything, and you can react accordingly with no need of people screaming on the phone. In fact, there is no living person needed to do that. How can that be possible?
The answer is: automated alerting applications. There is an enormous amount of automated monitoring systems around us. Personal life alert devices, fire sensors they launch a signal that is automatically delivered to a proper service. It is because automated methods cost less and it is becoming very common. From hard drive recovery reporting to stock notifications automated alerting systems are used everywhere.
There are four main methods of sending an alert report. The first and the oldest one is using a dedicated, specially designed alarm line between the sensor and the proper alarm station. It usually triggers some kind of a sound alarm. Because in this method one sensor is dedicated to one indicator, the source of alert can be easily identified. This method, however, has many flaws first of all, it is extremely expensive. Another thing is that it only notifies you about an alarm being triggered there is no detailed data given (it is good for fire alarm, but it won’t tell you if hard drive recovery was successful or not).
Another form of an automated alerting system is a pager message. Unfortunately, it slowly becomes obsolete. Recently, the cost of pager services became too high, but this method made possible to provide as many details as was needed – even the number of files that were lost after hard drive recovery.
The method of sending an e-mail report is the third method. It is by far the cheapest and most detailed one. There is, however, one major flaw and the successful delivery depends on constant access to the computer. Sending a message about a hard drive recovery process or about a burglary attempt has some sense only when someone can receive it, thus making this method less effective.
That’s why the last method is near perfection. It incorporates all the best aspects of other methods, while lacking their flaws. The use of a short message system is currently the best way of sending alerts: very detailed, almost instantly delivered and economical. From the emergency service doctors to company owners; from fire fighters to hard drive recovery trained personnel they all have one thing in common the cell phone.