Prevention is better than cure
The best time to think about a backup copy of your documents, photos, customer database and finance records is BEFORE your computer fails. If you implement a solid backup solution now, then in the event of your PC or laptop crashing, (it is likely to happen at least once unexpectedly), you will be a little inconvenienced but not devastated you lost the past 5 years BAS records, the report for that big client, AND your firstborn’s baby photos.
Like cars, mechanical and other issues are likely to occasionally occur to your computer. It is very likely that at some stage your computer will suffer from a virus infection, hard drive failure, a spilt drink, a drop or fall or the next big weather event may deem your computer “not economical to repair”. If the damage is claimable under Accident or Contents Insurance, (Saunders IT can also provide Insurance Reports for $99), if you have your files backed up, there will be NO PANIC about your data.
Imagine the peace of mind knowing that all your data is safely stored and can be restored to another computer or a reformatted hard drive.
What sort of backup is right for me?
Saunders IT recommend a combination of Cloud and an external drive. The safest form is an external drive that is NOT connected to a network so malicious actors cannot access across the network.
External Hard drive
Even if you are storing your data online via a Cloud Service, it is recommended you set a time (weekly to monthly for busines, at least quarterly for personal) to back up your Documents, emails, photos, videos, desktop settings and any other software storage files.
Saunders IT make our own durable backup drives by encasing premium hard drives inside the best tough cases available. UNLIKE most backup drives from a big retail chain, our external backup drives have extra internal cable ports not just the USB cable connected via the case. This means there is an alternative route to recovering your data even if the power surge zapped the external USB and power cable, we can remove it from the case and read it from a drive reader.
Cloud back up
Backing up to the “cloud” means that your data is stored at the storage company’s server and you can retrieve your data when you log on, to the internet. A storage company may offer a certain amount of free storage space and then charge for larger amounts (measured in Gb gigabytes).
Examples of cloud storage is:
- Dropbox
- Google Drive
- iCloud
SaaS (Software as a Service) companies offer services like accounting software, usally on subscription basis. SaaS companies store their customer’s files on their server. The advantage of this is it is very convenient enabling users to simply log on and operate their business or perform a function such as creating invoices.
Saunders IT recommend business owners and professionals such as freelancers using SaaS services also keep a physical back up on their own server or storage drive. A backup should be relatively easy to download from the SaaS portal .
Note: Even very big companies like Apple can have failure in their systems. They may not be liable for loss of your data, so read terms and conditions carefully and make your own backup to be sure.
Call Us for a back up drive or backup service.
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