Backup and Recovery

Make no mistake. Sooner or later something will happen to make you wish you had a backup plan or a better one. Make this a priority!

Many things can cause data loss. By data loss I am referring to the project you spent all day on, perhaps saving frequently, but lost due to one of the following. Power blackouts, brownouts and spikes or surges along with failed or failing hard drives and human errors are among the most common.

The second and often forgotten part of a backup plan is the restoration of files and disaster recovery. Most have dabbled or are familiar with restoring files, but disaster recovery is another animal. If you have a disaster recovery plan, you probably should move on to another topic. If not, read on.

Power failures explained:

Blackouts occur when the power shuts off completely and you lose everything since the last time you saved your work in progress on that new powerful, invincible G4. One cause of a blackout is in the summer when everyone has their air-conditioning unit on and the power company can’t supply enough power for everyone.

Sometimes your new or old computer won’t start up again after a power failure. This can be due to a power spike, which can be caused by lightning striking near by. Initially your equipment receives a quick burst of power higher than the 120 volts, which is keeping it happy, then the lights go out after the power pole falls when lightning strikes it.

"Make no msitake. Sooner or later something will happen..."

Working in an industrial area around a big city has proven to be one of frequent power anomalies. Mostly brownouts which are dips in power below the standard 120 volts that keeps your computers, hard drives, monitors and art work on those pieces of electronic equipment happy. Usually, these brownouts don’t cause noticeable damage immediately, but over time can cause a hard drive or other electronic gear to fail.

Think of a boxer taking punch after punch during a bout. Even though he started out in great shape, after one too many punches, he goes down. If your hard drive fails one day unexpectedly (Murphy’s Law states that this usually happens when you are rushing to print out the last 5 color copies and in haste forgot to hit command or control S to save your work) you will remember this article and perhaps say something loud and harsh!

I have lost a phone, computer power supply, TV and more due to these types of power anomalies. Of course I have more gadgets than your average person. My house and workspace, for the last number of years have been populated with power strips of various qualities depending on the value of what they are protecting. Cover yourself against all of the above with power protection and regular backups. I recommend APC (American Power Conversion) at http://www.apcc.com for power protection. Other good companies exist although APC is my personal favorite.