We’ve all experienced it at one time. Your computer freezes right in the middle of something important. You’ve done hours and hours of work and completely forgotten to save it to your Western Digital hard drive or similar. You get a knot in your stomach and you’re desperately clicking buttons hoping to find it, but not managing to. Sound familiar? It happens to the best of us, and of course, there are some brilliant companies such as DriveSavers that may be able to help you recover your files. However, like your mother always told you, prevention is better than cure which is why it’s vitally important that you take preventative steps to keep your business free from disaster. That’s what we’re looking at today. Keep reading to learn every backup secret in the book and keep your business safe.
Manual backups – A manual backup is as simple as plugging an external hard drive in the computer. This isn’t a particularly efficient way of backing up your system or data as a whole. However, it’s quite practical for keeping a few essential documents safe. This is especially useful for current jobs and projects. If you’re working on a presentation or document try to keep a recent copy on a USB stick or hard drive. It’s a quick and easy solution if everything goes pear shaped.
Autosaves – Like we said, there’s nothing worse than losing your project after hours of work. Most computer applications have an autosave option. We suggest you turn it on! That should automatically save your work every five minutes or so. If the worst happens, you’ll never be too far down the line and you’ll retrieve most of it.
Use the cloud – Nowadays, businesses are harnessing the power of the cloud. This is essentially just digital storage space on the internet. It is one of the more secure ways to store data. There are plenty of different services here from personal use to big business solutions. For companies that deal with a lot of information, we suggest using a disaster recovery data center. This replicates all data continuously and stores it on the cloud. For smaller business, a simple cloud locker can be used to manually store information.
Automatic backup programmes – Most modern computers have an automatic backup option. We suggest that all employees make use of the backup systems on their computer. For example, Apple computers come equipped with ‘Time Machine’. This backs up all data at intervals of your choosing. Ensuring all employees use this will increase productivity and keep everything flowing smoothly. This is particularly important as your business gets bigger.
Hard copies – Some businesses are now opting for an entirely paperless workspace. This can work for many companies, but we still see some benefit in hard copies. When it comes to confidential data, it’s often worth printing hard copies and storing them safely. Using locked cabinets can ensure that important information is still easily accessible. Even if your entire computer system goes down, you’ll still have access to data.
Keep your hardware safe – It’s all well and good making backups. However, make sure your hardware is protected too. One of the biggest causes of data loss is the physical loss of the laptop or hard drive. Whether it’s leaving your laptop on the train, a cafe or anywhere else, it happens more than you’d think. Keep it safe!
You can never have too many backups! Trust us, when it all goes wrong, you’ll be pleased you did.