When you hear the words “disaster recovery,” You can’t help but think of people filling sand bags after a flood, rebuilding homes after a tsunami or building sturdier bridges after an earthquake. However, disaster recovery isn’t limited to rebuilding cities, it also includes rebuilding businesses. Disasters for businesses are not limited to natural incidents; a cyber-attack or security breach can be considered a disaster as well. Although it would be impossible to be prepared for anything that might potentially happen to your business, it is still a good idea to have a disaster recovery plan in place, should the worst happen.
There are several things you can do to make disaster recovery slightly less disastrous.
Chose the type of back up that is right for you.
The days of the floppy disk are long gone and an embarrassment of new technologies exist to back up your important data. Choosing which one to use can be the hardest part of making your disaster recovery plan. An online backup service is one option. You can install a piece of software on your computer and it keeps your files backed up on the internet. You can use the Cloud to back up your data, but you may want to take security into consideration if you do that. Your information would be saved on the internet, making it more accessible to hackers or even ex-employees with an axe to grind. Also, if you rely on the internet for back up, you may be sorry if your internet service should go out.
Full disk imaging is a type of back up you may want to take into consideration. The term refers to backing up an entire hard drive to one place. You can copy all your files and save them in a larger hard drive. The other way to do it is to make an image of the drive. This image will replicate all of your data, sort of like a picture of your hard drive.
Back up your browser
If you are like most business people, there are certain websites that you visit every day. You have probably saved these websites to your favorites and are used to gliding from one to another without much thought. A cyber-attack can get rid of those favorites in an instant and it might take hours to get everything organized in a way that makes you do your best work.
You may want to consider backing up your favorite websites to your internet browser. Google Chrome and Firefox each have their own backup system. If you are a fan of using more than one browser, you may want to check out software that synchronizes your browsers website. The software Xmarks allows you to back up all the different web browser’s favorites in one easy step.
Have a disaster conductivity plan
No matter what may have happened to you, you want to let your customers know that your’s is a business upon which they can always count. You want to make sure you have a plan for how to run your business as seamlessly as possible, after the worst has happened.
If you think you can do all of this alone; you can’t. Disaster recovery and data backup are two of the most complex jobs in the IT industry. You will need to hire an IT company to do the job. Metro Networks can provide you with full IT and disaster relief services. Feel free to call our IT Specialist for an estimate at 559-492-5985.