Back Up Options
Imagine you just had a wonderful
weekend and sneak into the office to finish a project early Monday morning. You
open the door and surprise, mayhem has beat you to work:
a) Your office has burned to the ground; or
b) Your office has been broken into and your computer work station is missing;
or
c) Your computer is dead, just won't come to life; or
d)
Your hard drive is missing or destroyed.
While all of these are sound
fictional, somewhere these happen to companies every day. Getting back to work
will take time; keeping your data safe is one you can manage.
When I talk about taxing issues,
the IRS uses the words "exclusively and regularly" to allow business use of
the home. The word regularly
refers to more frequently than occasionally and that is what I often see people
do - backup
occasionally.
Here are some ideas to keep your
data safe and secure regularly:
- CVD/CD/Blu-ray are a static
method of storage and each DVD can hold about 8.5GB. This requires someone
to sit and manage this by putting the discs in and out of the machine.
Very good option for media (music, audible books) that doesn't change but
you want to save. Just make sure you take the time to label the discs as
this will save you time in the future.
- Flash Drives have been
available for a long time and both Sandisk and CES have ones that actually
have a button and software that will allow you to auto back up. The
32GB is now averaging $50. Easy to configure and slips in your pocket for
offsite storage. How to back up to a flash
drive
- Online file
storage
solutions are becoming more popular. Mozy and Dropbox are two places for
individuals and small businesses. Dropbox starts with a 2-GB storage,
free. To store up to 50GB, will cost you $9.99/month. Many ways to tweak
this will help keep your data safe, offsite and up to date. Some
restrictions on files and file size but very useful for most office files
and a couple hundred photos. Others include Carbonite, Crashplan and
Jungle disk. Online tools
- External hard
drives with backup software. LaCie and Seagate are popular external
drives and supporting software like Acronis True Image, Time Machine or
the Windows backup tool available on Windows machines are all affordable.
On the External Drive, don't skimp on space - think lots of gigabytes
(GB).
- Network Attached
Storage
(NAS device) is a freestanding device separate from your computer and can
be accessed by other computers in your office. You will most likely
want to have a professional set this up for your office.
Linda Fayerweather MBA EA
419.897.0528
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Changing Lanes LLC ----------------------------------
Right Computer for the Right Job - Part 2
Last week I shared a story about
a client of mine who's outdated and slow computers for his front office staff
were actually costing him over 25 hours a month of lost work time. But would
upgrading to new computers actually cut down on lost time?
Yes, but only if you buy the
right computer for the job. The problem with my client is that he bought very
basic business computers. He didn't think about what those computers would be
used for and at the time, it was all he could afford. Unfortunately the computers
became obsolete faster than his growing business and ever since have been
costing him money in the way of lost time.So how do you pick out the right computer? Before even looking at computers the first step is to write down exactly what you out of a computer. Let's use my client for example. He needs two types of computers. 1) One type for his data entry employees and 2) One type for his marketing employee.
For the data entry computers, those are pretty straight forward.
- Latest Operating System: In this
case Windows 7.
- A good CPU and enough Ram to run
Windows 7 and the latest data entry/office software for at least the next
three years.
- 19" monitor but preferably
21" or 22".
- Enough USB ports for an external hard drive (for backups), mouse, keyboard, and flash drive OR an eSata port.
Now lets look at the wish list
for the marketing computer.Latest Operating System: In this
case Windows 7.
- Dual Monitors to increase work
space and productivity.
- Working with large file graphic
design, needs to store and open large files.
- Will do some light video editing.
- A good CPU that can process
graphics and video editing efficiently for at least the next three years.
- Enough Ram to run Windows 7 and
the latest Graphic and Video Software with the ability to upgrade to more
Ram.
- Enough USB ports for an external
hard drive (for backups), mouse, keyboard, and flash drive.
- eStata port for external hard drive to store video.
As you can see the marketing
computer has a few more requirements than the data entry computers. But how can
we translate those requirements to an actual computer? Next week from these
wish lists we will design a computer for a the data entry computers and the
marketing computers.
Copyright 2011 Jeff MendelsohnLiquid Mechanix Studio, LLC
www.liquidmechanix.com
419.297.3364
