Safeguarding data in your business. Last month, I wrote that small and midsized businesses (SMBs) are making the protection of their information their highest IT priority, as opposed to 15 months ago when a high percentage had failed to enact even the most basic safeguards, according to Symantec Corporation. Related to this increased awareness was the need to enhance backup and recovery within day-to-day processes in SMBs, as the realisation that information is the most important asset that any company has becomes more apparent. Another good sign is that SMBs in Malaysia are forecast to increase their spending on information protection by an average of 18% in 2011. However, merely realising that data is the backbone of any business is not enough. The question really is: Do SMBs have a back up and recovery process and are they following these processes to the tee? A quick straw poll amongst SMBs I conducted not too long ago suggested that the main reasons SMBs don’t do back up are because they do not have the time to deal with back up, and they lack a one-stop, user-friendly, plug-and-play solution which does not need a person to fiddle with its settings. Back up and recoveries So what are some of the best practices for back up and recovery? The first thing to do is to establish a clear back up policy from day one. This can be a major challenge as it’s a real big culture shift for many people. SMBs must take back up seriously and always live by the maxim, what can go wrong will go wrong. For most SMBs, it’s important that they backup every computer that’s connected to the network, including desktop hard drives and laptops, at least once a week, though daily backup is preferred. Here it’s important to use backup applications that are simple to set up and will work automatically to backup data to disk. Aim for software that has “set and forget” features. Use backup applications that simplify the data restoration process. The general rule of thumb is to realise that one size does not fit all your needs. There are times when an external hard drive is better for you, while at other times, a DVD storage is the best for you, and sometimes you’ll need a combination of a few storage options for your cyber needs. If you are a micro business or SOHO, amongst the cheapest option is to use thumb or USB drives. Today, they come in various sizes and can range from 4GB to 16GB of storage. In the past, thumb drives or pen drives, as some call them, have only been used for plain old storage. The interesting thing about thumb drives these days is that they not only store data, but the more costly ones can also encrypt data and even back up data. Often forgotten as one of the most cost effective ways of backing up your data is the use of DVD-Rs, although most people will suggest that DVD-Rs are mainly for archiving data that you would not access on a monthly basis. While some may consider DVD-Rs a dated way of storing data, they’re by far the most economical storage devices in the market today. Perhaps the most popular storage medium today is the external hard drive, which ranges anywhere between RM200 to RM500. There are basically two types of external hard drives – the laptop sized, which are powered via the USB and the desktop sized ones, which use AC power. If you’re not always on the move, aim for a desktop drive as you get better bang for your buck. As far as capacity is concerned, as a rule of thumb, always aim for at least one-and-a-half times the size you need to backup or store. Say for instance, you want to back up your 300GB hard drive on your computer, get a drive that has at least 450GB. This will ensure that you can at the very least, make a mirror of your entire hard drive. Other options A prevalent trend these days is to store your data online. The pro, of course, is that you will be able to access your data from virtually anywhere as long as you’ve a broadband connection. Do note that, however, you won’t have full control over your data as you don’t own the space you’re storing your data in. The most obvious is to use e-mail providers such as Google and Yahoo to store your files. However, there are subscription-based service providers, which offer you online storage space. Examples of these are Mozy, Amazon S3, Windows SkyDrive, Sugar Sync, Box, and ADrive. Prices start from US$4.95 per month, so you should only consider this if you really need online storage. When choosing for an online service provider, always check to see it’s reputable by writing in to the customer service department to find out more about the service its offering. However, some are uneasy with storing personal data in cyberspace and as a matter of precaution; you should only store non-confidential data in this way. A lot of SMBs back up the data onto the central server in the office. This is not a good practice as there is no redundancy, it does not have good security and can tax the server unnecessarily just with your storage needs. This is where a NAS – Network attached storage comes in. A NAS is like an external drive, but it’s connected over the network not the USB cable. Think of it like an extra drive letter, say N, on your Windows Explorer file manager or like a file server. While the concept of a NAS is easy to grasp, implementing one may not be that straightforward and may need some technical expertise. It may be easy to go out and get yourself a NAS box and its associated software, but if you’re a growing company, you’ve to consider what happens when you run out of space, say in six months. So if you need scale, you need to think ahead. You may need some storage vendor to help you with this as they offer solutions for SMBs. At the end of the day, an SMB must make that first step into a journey that may well safe you from major heartache one day. As cliché as it may sound, the first step is always the most difficult but once that step has been taken, SMBs will reap full benefits from taking storage seriously.