J.E. Shannon & Associates

No matter if you are a proud parent, individual, musician, or company CEO, your data has value.  Whether that value is in pictorial\video memories, recorded gems for your next album\CD, or mission critical business data, they all need to be backed up.  Even though hard drives have become more stable throughout the years, they still can crash unexpectedly.  Don't get caught in a bad situation and lose your data!

Some would recommend using external hard drives (USB\Firewire\eSATA), Network Attached Storage Servers (NAS), or a full blown file server to backup your data.  But, what is backing those devices up?  If you are not running a backup on these devices, you are still vulnerable to losing data.

Back in the day, your IT professional would recommend using backup tapes on a rotating schedule with secure off-site storage. (You may still have this system in place now)

Here's the problem with this method:

1) Finding someone to rotate the tapes daily, preferably after-hours
2) Making sure the tapes are being rotated and stored securely off-site
3) Finding an economical, secure place to store the tapes off-site
4) Tapes are tapes.  They can get tangled and break (sometimes damaging the drive)
5) Tapes tend to degrade over time and lose data
6) Keep Tapes away from magnets, you can lose all data
7) Run drive cleaning tapes (weekly or monthly) to keep the drives in tip top shape.
8) Cost of buying the tapes.

A newer method, that some techs are now recommending, is removable hard drive cartridges. Though they are somewhat better and more stable than the tapes.  You still have some of the same issues that tapes have.

Here's the problems with this method:

1) Finding someone to rotate the hard drive cartridges daily, preferably after-hours
2) Making sure that the hard drive cartridges are being rotated and stored securely off-site
3) Finding an economical, secure place to store the hard drive cartridges off-site
4) The hard drives need to be formatted from time to time to keep the data storage stable
5) Keep the hard drive cartridges away from magnets, you can lose all data
6) Cost of buying the hard drive cartridges.  (These cartridges can be quite expensive, depending on size)

J E Shannon & Associates recommends remote IBackup Professional for backing up your data. Our preferred vendor, IBackup, provides secure, redundant, stable, and a cost effective method for backing up your valuable data.

Here's more IBackup Professional service information:

1) Automated backups, web console for centralized management, and 24 x 7 access via the web with provision to restore data to any computer.

2) Email notifications to alert you when backups are successful or failing.

3) World-class data centers where data is stored with military grade encryption and backed up to local RAID devices at regular intervals; optional periodic mirroring to an alternate data center for additional redundancy.

4) Pay-as-you-scale model and no additional software or hardware requirements, IBackup Professional makes perfect business sense.

5) Hot backups of your MS SQL server, MS Exchange server and system components - designed for the 24 x 7 business model that allows little or no downtime.

6) Quick initial backup of several gigabytes of business data to a temporary storage device, shipped by IBackup to you; continue incremental backups via application.

7) Helps you meet GSA, HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, and SEC/NASD  compliance.

With this remote backup service, you will not need to worry about hiring or using a employee to monitor or swap backup media (Tapes, Hard Drives, etc).  No more worrying about where to store your backups remotely and securely.  No more media issues, like tangled tapes or losing formatting on a Hard Drive.   No more maintenance on the backup drives or media.  Last, no more buying media. 

Don't wait for the day that you have a system crash to recover data (which can be very expensive) or consider what to do about backups. If you are a business or governmental entity that has requirements to meet Federal Laws and Regulations for backup procedures, we suggest that you sign up for IBackup Professional.  If you do not require those standards, you can sign up for IBackup Standard.

Please contact us today, if you need a backup consultation or would like more information about our company's products and services. We are here to help you with your Web, IT, Marketing, and Management Consultation needs.