All Hard Drives Will Eventually Fail

Truth be told, all computer hard drives will eventually fail - it’s just a question of when and whether or not you’ll be prepared. Completing a hard drive backup may not be the most glamorous way to spend a few minutes of your time. But it’s certainly worth it when considering the alternative of losing all your work documents, photos, emails, and personal data. 

Hard Drive Backup Options

Depending on the type and volume of information you need to back up, we suggest the following: 

• Manual Backup - For manual backup of data from desktop and laptop computers, use a flash drive, USB remote drive, or your company’s network. Manual backups require consistency because when they’re not completed regularly, important information can be lost.
• Automatic Backup - For most personal accounts, we recommend automatically backing up to your network, USB backup drive, or cloud storage.  This removes the possibility of human error from the process.
• Image Backup - Image backups take a snapshot of your server or computer and back up all data, software programs, and the operating system. This allows you to restore all the files on your computer.
• Flat File - Flat file backups only copy files you have saved. No programs or software gets copied. Restore time is minimal, but this requires a new copy of your operating system and all software programs to be installed first.
• Database - Database backups copy all database records and files.  Many databases are accessed 24/7, so this type of backup is required to ensure data integrity.
• Incremental - Incremental backups only update files changed since the last backup. Many businesses that can’t experience downtime run incremental backups every hour.  This ensures most changes can be recovered if an issue arises. 

Backup Rule of Three

Your data really isn't safe unless you're backing it up with lots of redundancy. The computer backup rule of three can help ensure that your data will last. 

• Make three copies of anything you care about. Two isn't enough if it's important.
• Save in two different formats. Use various options like Dropbox, external hard drives, flash drives, and cloud storage.
• Include one off-site backup. If something happens to the building where your device is stored, you’ll lose access to the device’s information.

Abstract installs two (and often three) different backup solutions to ensure our customers don’t rely on a single option if a catastrophic event occurs. If you have any questions on what backups your business should have in place, please give Abstract Technology Group a call at 765-420-8324.