What?

Computer backup is any process that makes a safe copy of valuable files.  The question "What files are valuable?" is typically answered with the simple response 'Every file a user creates'!   On Windows systems this typically corresponds to the 'My Documents' folder.  And, thinking about it, that's clearly where the value is!  Even in the worst case, it's probably possible to get old program files on CD-ROMs, via downloads, or even by just buying those programs again, and then re-installing them program-by-program.

However the files and data that users create are much harder and much more expensive to replace.  So user-created files represent the 'high priority' target in any backup system.

Computer backup hardware and software systems are occasionally confused with backup systems for computer power, also known as 'un-interruptible power supply' systems.  Backup for insuring power requirements is also an important decision, however in this guide we've focused only on hardware and software backup systems for files and data.

Disaster Recovery is a specialized and typically separate backup consideration.  While normal backups are aimed at recovering selected files, disaster recovery backup is typically aimed at completely restoring a working system, starting with a blank hard disk.  In this guide we've not focused on all the considerations relating to disaster recovery, but a good regular backup is an excellent start at toward composing a larger disaster recovery plan.  Some of the products mentioned below do have disaster recovery features that can be implemented in addition to 'normal' backup features.

Why?

Computer backup is something that everyone knows is important, but too many of us only learn to do it better or consistently after a tragedy.  So we'll presume without further explanation, that readers of this guide agree the 'Why?' is obvious.

In 2005 a client converted to a new accounting system in January.  In July their network server crashed with an un-bootable hard disk.  Unfortunately the backup system we proposed for the network a couple years earlier had been put off for lack of funds, and there was an assumption by all involved (us too!) that the accounting system's backup was configured and working.  Unfortunately the accounting system backup was NOT properly implemented.  The end of this 'sad story' is that after paying a $150 evaluation fee for the hard disk, it was still unrecoverable, and the accounting system had to be re-initialized from zero. A painful lesson on the importance of reliable backup!

How?

There are many opinions about what kind of backup is best.  We'll try to touch on some major options, some of the popular brand choices, and our own preferences from 17+ years of consulting with small business clients.

First our advice for some backup rules-of-thumb:

1. It must be simple! Complex backup schemes tend to be too much trouble to use, or worse they're too complex to actually work when its time to restore from a backup.
2. It must generate several slices of your data! Backing up just the files as they were yesterday or last week is NOT enough.  Problems with files come unexpectedly and sometimes files from Tuesday, or a week before last will, be the better choice.
3. It must run itself!  Backups that need to be attended by humans more than once-a-day, even to change disks or CD's, etc. are destined to fail at least occasionally.  The more automatic the better!

Using these 'Rules-of-Thumb' here are some categories of backup and our recommendations:

One or two Computers

We believe that small businesses with only one or two computers are good candidates for automated online backup.  There are several such services but we've been very impressed with Mozy where new residential users get 2GB of backup space for FREE.  That's often more than enough to backup all the files in 'My Documents' as well as other key files in the 'Favorites' and 'Desktop' folders too.  Use this link (www-mozy-com/?code=S33AEH <--copy, paste, and correct) and the Mozy folks will provide another 0.2 GB (A total of 2.2GB) of space just for using the referral we're making here!

A client using Mozy for a single computer had a hard disk crash just a month after starting with the service.  The disk was replaced and a few hours after requesting the restore file, ALL their work was COMPLETELY recovered.  We think that's quite an endorsement!

There are many other capable backup options for one or two computers including DVD, USB drives, even USB memory sticks, but none of these easily and cheaply meet our 'rules-of-thumb' criteria above.  We were interested to note that new Dell computers have recently been shipping with a FREE one (1) year subscription their 'DataSafe' online backup service which includes up to 10GB of storage.  Online backup will likley be the way to go for most backups in the future, but we expect the economics to improve even more then they have in order to make that happen. (EVault 30GB over two years as much as $5,899 and Mozy 30GB over two years $455.)

Three to five+ computers

As the number of computers increase, we think the justification for a little more backup-related expense is justified.  Out typical approach to this kind of business is first to set up what we'd call a 'Hub-PC' (often an extra old PC, or a desktop doubling as workstation and 'Hub-PC' when other computers are notebooks ) to act as a peer-to-peer server and allow the centralization of user files on that 'Hub-PC'.  This has several advantages including the easy sharing of files and printers via the peer-to-peer network, the availability of files and printers even if a notebook user is not present, and the ability to set up an un-attended backup on the 'Hub-PC'.

If the number of uses and files is small a solution like Mozy above might make sense. However a more local solution that meets our rules-of-thumb criteria is a USB connected drive, with several removable (e.g. so interchangeable) hard drive disks (e.g. like an Iomega REV drive) that can be used with backup software. We recommend starting at least six cartridges. 

In evaluating backup software for this solution we keep turning to the FREE (e.g. to download and use) 'Cobian Backup' software as intuitive, and able to perform consistently.  In the case of a USB drive, the job of the backup software is primarily to copy files at the scheduled time, and maybe to do some file compression in the midst of the copying.

Other solutions including, Travan tape systems, CDs, DVDs, and even 'fixed' hard disk systems have not impressed us.  In each case we've never or gradually stopped using them.

Three to 25+ computers

In keeping with those rules-of-thumb we routinely encourage our clients to make the BIG jump to a 72 GB DAT tape backup system.  Recently we've been acquiring through distribution (e.g. Tech Data) Quantum 72 GB DAT drives with Symantec's Backup Exec 11dsoftware and a dozen DAT (3"x2"x 3/8") tapes  for under $800.  Adding an Adaptec 2940UW controller card via eBay for under $35 creates a very simple and reliable full backup solution for as much as 30 to 40 or more GB of data. 

We inherited from another consultant a medium-sized client with a backup to disk system that involves the use of just two USB connected fixed-disk drives.  Unfortunately these drives violate many of our rules-of-thumb, not the least of which is that they suffer from occasional problems recognizing a changed USB device just after being switched.  We look forward to upgrading these clients to a more reliable system, that offers more restore options too! 

We currently have five (5) clients on DAT tape systems and all of them are routinely generating successful backups!

Brief comments on other solutions:

Windows NT Backup - No scheduling facility and not very intuitive.
Small Business Server Backup - Only manages a single backup job and not as intuitive as we'd like.

Some final thoughts on 'How' to accomplish backups day-to-day:

Remembering the rules-of-thumb again we perfer to set up systems to operate with just one visit a day, ideally to change the already labeled current day of the week tape or cartridge to the one for the next day.  Most of our clients have tapes or cartridges labeled (<--Don't under estimate the value of  labeling tapes or cartridges with actual labels, e.g. 'Monday' as well as with a matching name in software.) for the week days as well as some 'extra tapes' to replace an occasional Friday tape that's pulled out of the rotation.  It's not hard to imagine a system of inexpensive tapes, or even more expensive cartridges, where after a full year of operation the available backups include:

The quarter-end Fridays (4)
The current month of Fridays (4)
The current week (Mon. to Thurs. 4)

All that backup sliced through time just with just 12+ tapes or cartridges makes being able to recover needed files more-and-more likely.

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