Offsite Backup Advantages

Offsite Backup Advantages

Creating backups of your data and files is a very important way of staying on top of disaster and missing data.  Both small and large businesses, including individuals, always look towards a backup of information to keep them going in the face of disaster.  Even though backups are a great way to keep your data safe and protected, there are some flaws with the traditional methods.

When you create backups of your data, you must store them somewhere where they can’t be damaged or someone else can access them.  For businesses, offsite backup is a well known and popular way to backup files.  It offers you several different advantages when compared to other ways, such as CD, DVD, external hard drives, and even servers.  One of the biggest advantages to offsite backup is the fact that the backups aren’t stored in your office or business.

Offsite backup companies store your data in state of the art safes, to protect them against fire, flood, and even prying eyes.  This can be extremely beneficial if unexpected things have a habit of occurring around your office.

Another great thing about offsite backups are the fact that they can be used as stores for your data.  You won’t need to rely on online space, as you can easily go to the company who is storing your data and go through it anytime you wish.  You can also use online space with most companies as well.  You simply upload your data to their online storage area, then go back anytime you wish and view it.  This is a very handy feature, similar to a hosting company.

Another benefit of offsite backup is the fact that your data will always be protected, and you won’t have to use CD or DVDs to do it.  CD and DVD storage is great for individuals, although there will be quite a bit of them for most businesses.  This can get somewhat costly, but more importantly, it will use a lot of space to store the backup files.  They can also become damaged or lost, unlike offsite backup storage.

Offsite storage is also great if your business is in a bad area.  If Mother Nature has a habit of bashing your area with floods, fires, or hurricanes, you should look into offsite backup storage immediately.  They have ways to protect your information from harm, including anything Mother Nature can dish out.  There is no need to worry about natural disasters, system failures, hard drive crashes, or data failure with offsite backup storage.

Even though you may not realize it, the data will be available anytime you need it.  Online backup services are available anytime, day or night, and can be accessed anywhere you are.  Most are easy to set up, and offers you very impressive security measures.  They are also fast and very efficient, which is great for those who need to access their files immediately.

When it comes to offsite backup, you can store virtually any file you need to, such as text files, e-books, contact record, pictures, music, and anything else you can think of.  The storage for online backups are virtually endless, capable of storing everything you need.

All in all, offsite backup storage is ideal for any business or corporation.  You can store your data with an online offsite backup, or choose to do it physically in an offsite safe.  The choice is entirely up to you.  No matter which method of offsite backup you choose - your data will always be protected, and best of all - it will always be there anytime you need it.

Knowing Your Data Is Safe

Knowing Your Data Is Safe

All companies of today make great use of the technology available to them and rely on their data.  Most businesses however, don’t have the budget to invest in network storage or large servers, which is what the bigger companies use to transfer information and create a backup of the information they rely on to carry out their operations.

Smaller businesses have a limited budget.  When most encounter a disaster they never seem to recover, normally going out of business.  Past disasters such as 9/11 or the dreaded hurricane have showed the importance of backups and disaster planning.  Companies that thought things out and protected their data survived these disasters, while those that didn’t went out of business.

There are several ways that you can protect your data and keep it safe.  One of the most popular and easiest ways to protect your data is with a server.  Servers are great for both large and small businesses, and protection the data for your business.  They can tend to get expensive though, with the most popular server, Microsoft, starting out around $3,000.

Unlike other options, servers provide you with a safe and secure system to store all of your corporate data.  You can set the permission of your files to prevent any unauthorized access, to keep your files safe.  When using servers, most of the loss comes from either accidental deletion or employees that are upset with corporate management and decide to get into the server and erase files.

When using a server, your data will be stored in one central location, and not spread around over different computers in your network.  Servers are very user friendly, and keep your files neat and tidy - in one location.  This way you don’t have to go looking all over the place for your data, you can look in the server and find everything you need.

Another way to keep your data safe is with CDs, DVDs, and even external hard drives.  If you are using any of these methods, you should always do a backup of your information at the end of every day.  With disasters being completely unpredictable, backing things up every day will ensure that you are protected if something should occur.

If you are backing things up to CD or DVD media, you should always put the discs in a safe and secure location, preferably a fireproof safe.  This way, if the office should catch on fire, you’ll have your backup discs protected.  You should always add your new backups to the safe at the end of every working day, so you’ll have them tomorrow if you need them.

You can also store your data and information offsite as well.  This is a highly recommended option, as you pay a flat monthly fee and a company stores your information.  Most have secure vaults and servers for your data, which ensures protection from unauthorized accidents or hazards.  You don’t need to worry about your data when using these services, as they will do the protection for you.

No matter which method you use for protecting your information, you should always make sure that you have a plan.  Corporate data is very important and essential to success, which is why you should look into immediately if you don’t have a plan already.  If you know your data is safe and protected from hazards and unauthorized access - you’ll have the peace of mind in knowing that your data will be there each and every time you need it.

Computer Diagnostics

Computer Diagnostics


The diagnostics that are associated with computers can help to identify any problem or failure that computers show when they are having problems.  Diagnostics are used to test out the computer system, which includes both the BIOS and memory, software, and even the hardware that is attached to the computer.

The most common types of problems will occur when your computer is down to very low resources, which can either be a low amount of RAM, or a low disk space.  These conditions are very common, and generally result in your computer running very slow.  This can easily be fixed, all you have to do is defrag your hard drive, and get rid of some programs and files that you no longer use or need.

Almost all types of computer diagnostic software can find and fix just about any problem that you are having.  It normally starts off with a BIOS examination, and goes on from there.  PC diagnostics
software can determine a lot from the BIOS, from the common settings to those that have a major impact on both boot up and performance.

No matter what you do, you should never modify or tamper with the BIOS settings, as it can lead to serious problems.  If you do plan to modify or mess with your BIOS, you should always create a backup first, just in case something goes wrong.  The BIOS settings can be very tricky, although they are responsible for a lot to do with your computer.  If you have never been in the BIOS before, you really shouldn’t be modifying anything inside of it.

Depending on the diagnostics program that you are using, there will be several different features available.  Right now, two of the most popular are Norton Systemworks and PC Doctor.  Both of these programs offer full diagnostics software, good for fixing just about any software related computer program you can imagine.  

Once you run the program, you’ll be able to select the diagnostic test that you are planning to run.  Some offer you a full system scan, which will scan your entire computer and then display any problems that you having.  After displaying any problems, the software will normally give you an option to go ahead and fix it.  As long as the problem is nothing serious, the diagnostic software can generally fix it.

The more complicated problems, such as hardware failures or hard drive crashes, are a totally different story.  They will require a technician who is very experienced, that can rebuild the hardware.  Diagnostic software can report hardware problems to you, although most of the time it is unable to fix it.

There are other computer diagnostic software that you run after starting the computer or rebooting, that will check everything from BIOS.  These types are great, although the types such as Norton and PC Doctor are by far superior.  They offer far more features, including defragment, cache cleaner, and the option to delete your temporary Internet files.  These features are great to have, especially if you aren’t the technical type.

For more reasons than one, computer diagnostic software is the ideal way to find and prevent problems with your computer.  Norton Systemworks offers you Ghost as well, which is the perfect way to back up your data.  You can back up certain files, or just go ahead and back up your entire hard drive.  Systemworks and Ghost are very easy to use, even if you are completely new to computers.  For everything they offer you - computer diagnostic programs are the ideal way to prevent problems before they happen.

Backup Data On Your Laptop

Backup Data On Your Laptop

If you were to look at past statistics regarding the information that has been lost in regards to laptop computers, you would find yourself amazed.  Even though this information can be astounding, many of us still don’t take the time to back up the information on our laptops.

To put it in simple terms, nothing in the computer industry is fool proof.  Hard drives can crash, the laptop can get stolen, or it can even be dropped and rendered useless.  To ensure that we are never left without our precious data, we should always create a backup of our information.

There is no mistaken the fact that over a million laptops have been stolen over the years in the United States alone.  Anytime a laptop is stolen, chances are that it won’t be recovered.  If the information wasn’t backed up, then the owner will be left with no laptop - but more importantly - no backed up data either.

Just like you can with desktop computers, you can also create a backup of the data on your laptop as well.  You can use online services, back it up remotely, or use several other methods to ensure that you keep all of your data.  Preserving your data is something you should really look into, especially if you have business material on your laptop.

The best way to go about backing up your data and files is to burn them to a data CD.  Data CDs can hold up to 700 MB (Mega Bytes) of data, which means a lot of files.  To back things up this way, all you need is a CD/RW burner in your laptop, which most of the newer ones come with.

The only drawback to laptops is the fact that they don’t offer near as much storage or security measures as a desktop PC.  Desktop computers have a lot more power, and they can also do things (including backups) in a fraction of the time.

The laptop computer was designed for on the go use, which is the main reason why people don’t really think about backing up their data.  When the thought finally does come to mind, it is normally too late to do anything about it.

As mentioned above, the easiest and quickest way to backup your laptop data is to use an online backup service.  Depending on your connection to the Internet, it can take anywhere from several minutes to several hours.  Although it may take you a little bit of time, you’ll have the satisfaction in knowing that your data is there if something should happen.

Whether it’s for your business or personal use, you can’t go wrong backing up your data.  You should always create a backup of your data at least once a month, even more than that if you have a lot of important information that you add to your laptop on a frequent basis.

Tips For Data Recovery

Tips For Data Recovery

Anytime your hard drive crashes or you lose your data, you’ll need to turn to data recovery to properly restore your information.  Data recovery is something most computer users are familiar with, as a majority of us have had to turn to data recovery at some point in time.  Even though hard drives are becoming better and better, they are still mechanical and will always encounter problems.

The first thing to do, before any problems happen, is to always back up your data.  If you create backups of your information, you’ll be well prepared in the event of a disaster.  This way, even if your hard drive cannot be repaired and the data is lost forever, you’ll have the back ups to continue going as normal.  If you didn’t make back ups, you’ll find the situation very traumatic when you discover that your data cannot be recovered.

Most hard drives will last for years before they start to encounter any type of malfunction or hardware problems.  You can help prevent data loss by turning off your computer when it isn’t in use, or shutting it down when you hear the hard drive making an odd noise.  If the hard drive starts to malfunction, letting it continue to run will only do more damage.  If you shut it off immediately and take it to a specialist, you’ll have a much better chance of getting it repaired.

With natural disasters, hackers, viruses, or other problems, you won’t have the time to react.  Before you know it, your hard drive will be damaged and your data will be gone.  Although this can be very frustrating, data recovery can normally bring your information back.  All you need to do is take the hard drive to a local specialist, then let them work their magic and show you the power of data recovery.

There are software programs out there that claim to recover lost data, although you should avoid them at all costs.  Most of time, these software programs will do your hard drive more bad than good.  Even though software may cost a lot less than professional data recovery services, the professional services will guarantee their work.  If you turn to software and it only makes things worse - your more or less out of luck, as the software doesn’t guarantee anything.

Anytime your hard drive fails and you seem to have lost your data, you should turn to professional data recovery services immediately.  They may cost you a lot of money, although they do the job right the first time.  When it comes to your data, you really don’t want to take any chances - especially if you had important documents and files stored on your hard drive.