Backups and Going to the Gym

They are two things everyone should do, and at the same time they are two things most people do not enough, well enough, or worse not at all.  Sometime we even go through the motions to give ourselves a false sense of accomplishment.

Everyone wants the same two things from their backups:

• Fast (speed)
• Bullet-proof (reliability)

Here's the rub:  Even if you're doing something, the odds are that you're not covering both points; even worse sometimes neither.

With the right planning, you can have both so your business stays in shape, no matter what happens. 

Grab a cup of your favorite beverage as this post is a little longer than the norm, but it's an important topic that's worth taking the time to understand.

Fast Backups

Fast is pretty easy.  A USB hard drive in most cases will have the average small business covered.  But if you want to be bullet-proof, you need to get the data off-site.  That can be anywere, you're home (assuming you have a separate office), a safe deposit box, a friend or relative's home, etc.  But you're not bullet-proof with just one drive.  You actually need a minimum of two (2) extra copies to completely bullet-proof.

Why?

You take the drive off-site.  Great.  Now you have the data in two places.  Better than just one.  However, you are still vulnerable.  Murphy's Law says that you'll have that catastophe (i.e. building on fire, flood from the floor above you, etc.) on a day when you're performing a subsequent backup and both data sets are in the same location.

One more drive off-site prevents this scenario from taking hold. 

So you've got fast and bullet-proof, but you have inconvenience because you now have to manage the backup copies.

Now let's look at using just the cloud.  

It's possible, but often not that pragmatic.

First the obvious, speed.  Assuming the catastrophe, for example you server is completely destroyed.  Fire, flood, electrical surge, etc.; the server needs to be rebuilt.  Unless you're in a media intense business (e.g. advertising, television, news, etc.) the amount of data most small businesses creates can usually be measured in megabytes, a few gigabytes at best with a robust, document intense business that has been around for a number of years.

Otherwise, the server is probably just a means to an end of making sure QuickBooks or whatever accounting package you use is centrally stored and a few other modest functions.  

The rebuilding of the server is where a small business is vulnerable to being "down" for a prolonged period of time.  (e.g. more than a day)

The "image" of that server, meaning a snap-shot of the entire machine, is in all liklihood over 100 GB.  

Restoring large amounts of data from the cloud is a slow process, regardless of how zippy that "business class" high-speed Internet connection you have is rated.  The reason?  Most websites intentionally limit bandwidth so no one person can monopolize their pipeline.  In other words, the weakest link in the chain is completely beyond your control.  

The Ideal Solution:  A Hybrid Backup Strategy

Simply put, this means doing both which lowers your overall risk to a disaster.

There are a number of ways to accomplish this.  The most ideal of which would be having your files in the cloud, but in the case of a total meltdown the ability to have physical media (e.g. DVD-ROMs, a hard drive, etc.) shipped to you overnight for a local (and thus fast) restore.

It's possible, but for most small businesses, this solution can be cost prohibitive. 

There are some creative scenarios that can cover the bases for the small business.

What Goes Where

The first thing to understand is that computers and programs are always replaceable.  Money not withstanding, anyone can go grab a new laptop in a pinch at their local big box store or have one shipped overnight from the reseller of their choice.

Your credit card will never be able to recreate your life's work.  Everything you created, your designs, your contracts, your e-mails, etc. all need to be backed-up properly so in case of an emergency your business does not suffer. 

Put Your Data Files in the Cloud

If you're a one person business and everything you have ever created can fit in a few GB, then Dropbox is probably the answer.  The first 2 GB is free and you can earn up to 6 GB additional space (for an 8 GB total) with referrals.  

Their pay plans start at $10 / month (or $99 / year, if paid up front) for 50 GB of storage.  In our opinion, they would be wise to create a 20 GB plan at a $5 / month price point, but unfortunately there is nothing between free and $10 / month.

Dropbox vs. Rackspace (Costs for 5 Users)

For a team, Dropbox is probably not your most economical option.  Their entry level plan runs $795 / year for 5 users and 1 TB of storage.  For many small businesses this overkill and price well out of reach.  A small legal or accounting practice just starting out will be a long ways away from needing that much space. 

An alternative would be a Rackspace cloud drive offers group disk functionality for $4 / month per user that pools 10 GB per user.  Meaning a 5 person shop for example would have an expense of $20 / month and 50 GB of storage.  

Assuming 5 users, Dropbox becomes a better value once your storage needs exceed approximately 358 GB.

Here's that break-even point illustrated:

$795 / 12 = $66.25 (per month)

$66.25 - $20.00 = $46.25

$46.25 / $0.15 = 308.34 GB

308.34 GB + 50.00 GB = 358.34 GB

(And you thought comparison shopping items in the supermarket was tough.)

Backing Up Your Laptops, Desktops and Servers (without breaking the bank) Takes Some Creatviity

Laptops & Desktops

Anyone who's tried updating a computer that is sufficiently out of date knows it can be an incredible time killer. No imagine a virus or a simple hard drive failure wher you have to start from scratch.  It gives the term, "Hal Gurnee Network Time Killer" a whole new meaning.

Starting from scratch means formatting the hard drive, running the factory restore program, running all the updates since the time you first started your computer and then reinstalling all your applications can be an all day event (or maybe even more). And then restoring all your data.  And never mind all the little customizations you have made over the years like booksmarks, widgets and more.  It takes more time than you ever want to spend to make yourself "whole" again. 

What if you could make a set of restore discs that includes everything?  Meaning the operating system, the applications, all the personalizations; everything.  Mac users are lucky.  Time Machine, built into Mac OS X takes care of that.  As Ron Popeil would say, "Set it and forget it."  Just remember to take the hard drive offsite to protect yourself against disaster.

Windows users need to do a little more work.  Fortunately necessity being the mother of invention means that someone has figured this out.  And this case, that someone is a company called, Acronis. 

Their imaging software programs means you can make a full image of your computer, and you can even restore to a completely different type of computer.  For those that have worked in the support field for while know that this is a big deal.

Once you have your image, get it off-site.

Everyonce in a while, say quarterly, make a new full-image backup.  This way the machine can be restored without having to sit through every single update since the begining of time.  

Servers

Servers add a bit complexity to the mix.  Yes, you can take a full snapshot, but you also need to worry certain tasks that are always running.  This is why server backup utilities cost more than their desktop counterparts.  Nevertheless, for the small business owner, the procedure will likely be very similar; except that you'll want to run the full backups on a much more frequent basis, monthly at the lonest, weekly in most cases.  

 

Why Not Put the Full Backups in the Cloud?

Simply put, it can quite expensive and as stated earlier the restore process could take an extremely long time.  A full backup of the operating system, all your programs, preferences, etc. could be several gigabytes.  If you have a few computers to backup, that online storage space can add up.

Every Business is Unique

Weigh your options.  In almost all cases, you'll have more than one option.