Nigel Farrier
Computing Columns
The Help Desk
56K Modems - are they worth it?
Back up or else!
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If you currently run a computer system or are considering one then I would consider the correct execution of backups to be one of your most important considerations. Ask yourself how much could you lose if your data was corrupted such as with a hard disk drive crash?
Even if you stand to lose only a few hundred dollars surely it is worthwhile investing $10 on a few floppies and backing up.
I basically have three rules regarding backups
In my own surgery a full backup is done every day around lunchtime and it only takes about ten minutes to backup almost 30Mb data (and that includes the compare routine as well). At least once a week we do TWO additional backups and these are taken off site to two separate locations. All these are done on a set of tapes which are rotated around. We have one for each day (mon to fri) and four for offsite - one from last week and one from this week at two separate locations.
In view of the speed of computers today I feel that everybody should do full backups every time followed by a compare.
Now along comes CD-RW or rewritable CDs. You can rewrite these beauties up to a thousand times or so but they do cost $40 to $50 each. They will still work out cheaper than CD-Rs in the long run. A CD-RW unit for your computer will currently set you back a bit more than a simpler CD-R unit but these should be the way to go for the early future(until we get DVD-RW!!).
If you have any computing questions in general I can be contacted by email on at nfarrier@southwest.com.au. I am more than happy to try to solve most problems (with Wintel machines) or give advice.
Dr Nigel FarrierA lesson learnt.
In my previous surgery we stood to lose around $30K to $40K! That's quite a lot and it actually happened - the terrible sound of a hard disk drive head scrunching away at the magnetic coating on the platters inside the hard disk. Fortunately this happened as we were exiting out of a backup - true story. Quick trip to pick up a replacement drive, fitted it and restored from the backup - total downtime only two hours. The most important thing though was NO lost data so no lost money.
Get a routine
Right from the start you should get into a good routine of not only performing your backup but also checking it. Most programs will do a file comparison for you after the backup and so reassure you that your data is saved.
Each office will have their own idea of how important their backups are which will determine how often and how much they backup. A good rule of thumb is to back up at least once a day AND to take at least one copy off site every week
Full or incremental?
When you perform a back up of your data you must always start with a full backup. This backs up every file you specify. An incremental backup only copies those files which have changed from the previous back up. Each has its good and bad points. A full backup uses more space and takes longer to perform. Incremental back ups don't. However, when you have to restore you have to start with the full back up and then go through the incrementals - takes a bit longer.
What to back up with?
Floppies
Aah the good old floppy disk. In fact I still use this for less important data where I only have a small amount to copy but really this is now considered 'old hat' and I would suggest that you use this only for emergencies.
Zip and LS120
The Zip drive can hold 100Mb and the LS120 120Mb. The latter has the advantage of being backwards compatible with 1.44Mb and 720Kb floppies whereas the Zip Drive isn't. There has been some problems with the Zip Drive reported recently, the so called 'Click of Death', but I believe that these have been exaggerated. I have personally used a Zip Drive since they were released and it is still working fine.
Removable hard drives (eg Jaz Drives)
These allow you to back up quite large amounts of data fairly quickly and still take them away from the computer. They are, however, more prone to damage being hard drives.
Tape back up units
These have been around for years and still perform a stirling service for most people. Hell, even I still use them. They may be slow by hard disk drive standards and like all other magnetic material are liable to corruption but their price is reasonable. As I mentioned earlier I still use these to perform full backups of 30Mb data followed by a compare all in around 10 minutes.
CD ROMS
Now I feel we are getting close to a gold standard for performing your backups. First of all there were the CD-R's or recordable CDs. You could only write to these once but as each one held about 650Mb data you could do a lot of backing up (around a months worth for me) and they only cost $5 each nowadays. The recordable CD ROM unit on the other hand costs about $600 to $700. But you do end up with a data medium that will withstand a fair degree of mishandling without losing your hard earned cash.
Internet backups
There are a few companies out there offering to backup your files over the Internet but I would suggest that these should be given a wide berth for the moment. Firstly, they are somewhat slow to download the information as you are restricted by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Secondly, you can never be too sure about the safety or the security of your data. you may be paying these companies to store your information in another country but what if they went broke on you?
Conclusion
At the end of the day it really comes down to whether you can lose any data or not. If you can't then you have to decide how much is it all worth to you and don't forget to factor in the cost of restoring all the lost data which can be quite considerable. If the answer is a lot then spend up on doing proper backups - it will pay you dividends in the long run.
Golden Bay
West Australia
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