Frequent Backups: A Need in Any Business

Today we speak of a need often neglected by companies. The need to make regular backups of your business's most important data stored on your computer's hard drives. In the current context of frequent computer attacks, as well as, the possibility of malfunctions, keeping the information safeguarded is extremely important.

What are backups?

Backups consist of saving a certain amount of information in some other location. This operation, therefore, duplicates the information. This is no longer present only on the hard disk of a particular computer, but is also stored in a second location.

The purpose of backups is very simple. In case of failure of the initial computer where the information was stored, it will not be lost because it is safeguarded in another location. Thus, whether due to a computer attack, virus infection, or simply a technical malfunction, the information will not be permanently lost.

Information to save

Even in small businesses the total amount of information stored on computer disks can be quite high. Virtually all business activity currently involves the use of computers, so this is not surprising. Gone is the time when much information was kept on paper, for example.

Having said this, it is often imperative to make a selection of the information to be backed up, in order to reduce the amount of space required for it. So you should carefully select which file sets are most important to your business and that are not recoverable by other means if there is a problem on a particular computer.

Location of backups

The location of backups is an important aspect in the process of safeguarding a company's information. It does not make sense to store them in the same location, or a location near the computer where the data was initially. To ensure maximum safety these must be stored in an external machine or equipment. If the backup is stored on the same machine as the original information, if there is a problem with this machine, both original and backup information may be lost. Thus, the backup should reside as far as possible from the original machine.

One solution often used for backups is the cloud. This way information is stored on a server remotely and easily accessible from any part of the World. This solution has the advantage of not requiring the acquisition of new equipment, since it is based on the payment of a subscription for a service of this nature.

Another solution sometimes followed is the storage of backups on a portable memory device, such as an external disk. This solution turns out to be the simplest solution for less advanced users. With this it is only necessary, periodically, to transfer the important files to the external disk. In case of problems with the computers the important information will be stored on the external disk and accessible immediately.

Conclusion

A backup consists of copying the most important information stored on your company's computers in order to store it in an secondary location. This operation has the purpose of allowing that, in the event of a failure in the main computer system, the information can be recovered without being irreversibly lost. For backups to be performed as securely as possible, they should be stored in a location other than the company's primary computer system. Thus, in case of failure, it will not be compromised.