Disaster preparation should include a plan for computer backup. The 2009 Atlantic hurricane season officially starts on June 1 and runs through November 30. It’s a reminder to homeowners living in coastal areas that they need to be prepared for disaster. What will you do when the hurricane landfall is eminent, and the evacuation order has been issued? Did you remember to backup your computer? Are your computer files easy to recover? Where is the data backup stored?
Protecting your computer data doesn’t only apply to families living in areas that are at risk for hurricane. The severe weather of summer includes hard rains, flooding, tornadoes, and forest fires in other parts of the country. It doesn’t have to destroy your home to affect your life. What if a road washes out and prevents you from getting home. How will you access your computer files? No matter where you live, computer backup needs to be part of you disaster planning.
Here are some disaster preparation tips that will insure easy data recovery:
1. Don’t wait until the last minute to backup your computer files. You should be backing up your computer on a regular basis. Don’t let too much time pass between backups. That way, you’re always prepared and you won’t have to rush around trying to backup files as the storm approaches.
2. If you rely on optical media, such as CDs and DVDs to backup a computer, make sure that they’re stored in a remote location far from the disaster area. You could possibly store your computer backup with a relative in another part of the country.
3. If you backup data to a flash drive, it’s easier to carry your computer backup with you, in your pocket, as you evacuate the disaster area. The size and portability of a flash drive has advantages. Their small size, however, also makes them easy to lose.
4. If you backup your data using an external hard drive, you’re faced with the same problems presented by all removable digital media. You’re going to have to remember to take it with you when you leave or make sure that it’s always stored in a remote location.
5. The best computer backup plan is to use an online computer backup service, like Mozy or Carbonite. Online backup services will back up a computer in real-time. They are constantly working in the background on your computer, backing up your files. So, you’re always prepared no matter what the disaster. Since your computer files are stored online, they are safe from all local disasters. With online backup your data recovery is easy and can be accomplished from anywhere there is an Internet connection.
