It has happened to everyone at one time or another. A sudden storm rushes in, and that surge protector you have just doesn’t do the trick. One well-placed lightning strike later and the infamous BSOD appears. So, you reboot, only to be greeted by “Disk Error,” or, worse yet, there is no drive activity at all. The affected drive held your work, your music, the build-up of applications and bits and bobs of information you've collected over time... and now it's all gone.
Lightning strikes when you least expect it... (IMG: Glen26/SXC)
This particular nightmare happened to me recently. Here is my experience, and how best to prevent it from happening to you.
The computer I work on most of the time is a simple custom-made system. The storage was decent, and served my purposes well. One 250GB SATA drive, which had documents, e-mail, and other important things backed up to an 80GB drive. In addition, because I know the power of lightning during Indiana storms, the system was also bolstered by a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply or Source) with built-in surge protector attached to the unit.
This was my recovery plan. I admit, right here and now, that the plan was flawed as it depended on just one type of backup. Ideally, I should have used monthly DVD backups, the hard drive backup, and maybe even a second backup solution -- either online or on another network computer.
My lesson learned is this: if something can go wrong, it will. Specifically, one storm took out my master drive and backup drive; in a single second, almost two years worth of articles and other data were lost forever. Why? The system's surge protection failed and, as it was not a brand name device, there were no insurance or protection plans for related losses or damages.
So how can you create an effective disaster recovery plan for yourself or a small business? Start by using an external storage device. External drives come in all shapes and sizes, so the best bet is to either know what you want to backup, or, if you want to back everything up, then use an external drive equal to your internal space. The key is to know exactly what you value most, and to back it up. E-mail, music, and important documents top this list.
One good Web site to help hunt down equipment is www.pricewatch.com, where you can get just about anything you're likely to need. Once you have the external storage covered, you can use built-in software such as that offered with Windows XP or a third-party software solution. Personally, I would suggest third party, as I have had better luck in the past with it. For example, AceBackup is decent and works well (http://www.acebackup.com/download.htm), while Symantec also offers strong back-up solutions for businesses too.
Manage your backups. Use DVD archives of the data stored on the external drive. Rotate them monthly. Remember, if it can go wrong, it invariably will, so a healthy dose of paranoia concerning archives is allowed in this case. If you can afford the extras, backup the external drive to another source in addition to the DVD backups.
If you want to create images of your system, you will need a good deal of space to store them. A good rule of thumb is to allow double the storage space of the actual image. So a 10GB image will need 20GBs of storage. In this case, Self Image is an open-source solution; once again, for businesses, Norton Ghost is well-known and easy to use. At the end of the day, backing up what is most valuable will save you stress and loss.
However, if you're like me and need recovery services to help drag you clear of the smouldering wreakage, then there are several to pick from. Local companies are where you should start first, but don't be afraid to shop around for the best deal.
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