Backup Solutions for Your Small Business' Computers

Backups are critical. We've all heard it before, but what does it really mean to the small business owner?

Putting it as plainly as possible, if you don't backup your data then you're just begging for a disaster to strike.

The fact is that backups aren't a sexy topic. People don't like spending money on backups and implementing a good backup solution can be expensive. So what options are available to the small business owner or manager?

The main options for backups are:

1. Tapes
2. External or removable hard drives
3. Other removable media
4. Internet based backup services
5. Remote location backup
6. Network attached storage

Tapes have been the standard for business backups for years. Tape based backup can be very expensive. Choosing a tape drive big enough to backup all your data can be very expensive. You might even be looking at a tape library machine or tape autoloader. These devices can cost many thousands of dollars. Then there's the software to run them (more megabucks) then there's the tapes themselves. When you backup with tapes you need to have multiple sets of tapes and you need to archive one backup a month and buy new tapes to replace that monthly backup. Get the picture, it's expensive, especially for a small business.

External hard drives are very commonly used to backup for a small business. Usually what happens here is that there will be two external hard drives that are rotated daily (I hope) or at least weekly. This is a very cheap solution. You'll need some software to run the backups, but with the right choice you could have a system that can get you your data and have you up and running very quickly and cheaply. However, with this solution what we see time and again is that the boss takes on the responsibility for it and the same hard drive sits there attached to the server for days or weeks or months just overwriting yesterdays backups, leaving no historical data to fall on and just waiting for a fire or a thief to take their only viable backup.

Other removable media like DVDs, CDs or USB thumb drives just don't cut it. They're slow to use, usually require a manual backup process and don't hold enough data to back things up properly. Businesses that use these methods usually struggle to understand why what they're doing is inadequate and are really leaving themselves open to trouble. That being said, if they're baking up their accounts system and their key data, at least they have part coverage and are ahead of many others.

Internet based backup services are becoming very popular and rightly so. The right system can be set up very cheaply and the hassle of swapping media and getting it off site. Beware that this can get very expensive though. Yes there are many cheap services out there, but they're more suited to the home based solo operator business. The right internet based service can be the best backup decision you make for a smaller business. As the business grows, this is just going to be too expensive.

If your business has more than one physical location, then take advantage of it and backup or replicate your data to it. Simple.

Network attached storage is also very cheap, just beware that one of the key things you're trying to achieve with a backup solution is to get the data off your main site so that a disaster such as a fire or a very large power surge or a thief can't destroy your business. If you can have this one a remote site, then this can be a good solution if it's set up properly.

Yes there are lots of options. Choosing one that suits you is not necessarily simple, so get some advice and make sure that you're catering for all types of disasters and that you can get the data when you need it.

Andrew Marcroft of FACTOR Computers is an IT Consultant and Senior Computer Technician. Andrew studied a Bachelor of Business at University and has run his own business for more than ten years. http://www.factor.com.au