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Protect Your Data
Backing up your data is important-whether you have a website or blog. Why? It can protect you from long downtimes, and loss
data.
Granted, there are times when the
server goes down, or your domain has been misdirected-that is not
your error or errors,
Granted, there are times when the server goes down, or your domain
has been but errors
that have to be resolved on the server side. But when the server inadvertently
blows away, say a directory-you can guess who will have to repair
the problem. You got it-it's you. With that being said, you have to
rethink what your content stand for- it's your business! So
it is up to you to protect your content- your business.
There are different methods of protecting your data. Largely it depends upon how much you want to spend or how much you can
spend, and the data involved.
Different Methods To Protect Your Data:
1. Hard Drive or External Hard Drives- You can piggy back an additional hard drive to your computer. Hard
drive life is about 5 years. Here you can put all your important data on a different drive. Making your data accessible. You can either manually put your data over to the hard drive or you can use an application like
Norton Ghost to make full system backups or folder backups.
2. USB-Flash Drives
– Flash Drives make a quick backup option. Not only are they reasonable but their useful life is 10 years. Several things to note. The USB 2.0 drive is offer faster downloads than the USB 1.0 drive. Recommend buying a USB Drive/Flash Drive that
states "no drivers needed".
3. CDs- Life of a CD-R or CD-RW can be used for a 1000 rewrites. They have a life span of 5 to 10 years, depending upon care. It’s great for small amounts of data but not large data storage.
4. DVD-Like the CD life span is about 1000 rewrites, Life span is considerably longer however they are more acceptable to scratching and that can make them useless.
5. Zip Drives- The Iomega Zip Drives are compatible with both Mac and the PC. Zip drives are a good option for storing large amounts of data. They are faster and more durable than the floppy. There life span can range from 2 to 10 years.
One downside to the zip drive: Prone to failure, causing you to lose your data.
Just like the hard-drive-if you begin to hear strange noises, it time
to move your data from the old zip drive to a new zip drive.
6. Floppy Drive- The life span of a floppy drive is about 2-years.
The floppy drive is giving way to the flash drive due mainly to the fact it is one of the most vulnerable of all the data storage options. They are sensitive to hot and cold,
and magnets.
In addition the floppy drive covering can, after a period of time
fall apart in your hands or in your floppy drive. Both have
happened to me.
I've noticed that a lot of new computers are not even installing
the floppy drive, instead they are putting several usb ports in the
front of the tower for Flash Drives. (In my opinion-the floppy drive has seen
it's better days-and may not even be considered an option in the
near future.)
7. Online Support - There are also companies that offer
online support for backup. Their services are offered on a monthly
basis.
Power Surges
Power Surges, spikes, electric brownouts (power dims) can all affect the life of your equipment.
Power surges can damage your components over time, and eventually cause your equipment to stop working before it's set in
obsolesce is reached.
Thus, to protect all your equipment from spikes or lightning choose a surge protector that is designed to cover all lines that connect to your equipment.
What To Consider When Buying A Power Surge Protector
How do you determine which power surge protector you need?
You need to know how much joules capabilities a surge protector can absorb to protect your equipment.
Energy absorption- the higher the level of joules that a surge protector has, the better the protection.
Your power surge protector should have at least 400 joules. But more is better. I would rather
pay a little more for a power surge protector than lose all my equipment.
Response time-There is usually a delay in the response time of different grades of power surge protectors.
<1 nanosecond is a quality response time.
Connected Equipment Warranty Guarantee - If you want and need the optimum protection. Look for
a power surge protector that comes with an connected warranty guarantee. If the surge or spike does
not protect your equipment, the company has to replace your equipment.
Power Protection
Power Protection for your office is in truth-a good investment. Why?
It protect the life of your office equipment. So...
If you are in an area where your electricity goes out, unexpectedly,
and without warning, than you should look into a battery backup
system. What is a Battery Backup System? A Battery Backup System will
defend your computer, modem, fax machine and other equipment from
power threats, keeping your hardware and data protected. It can help
prevent surges, spikes and even lightning from damaging your system.
And-the battery backup will keep your computer up and running when
the power goes out, thus protecting your files.
This extra protection will keep your
office running until you can properly shut down your office during an
electrical outage. In addition, it will help you to maintain your
equipment as well. Electrical outages can cause lost data and
equipment damage, as well as, deplete the total life of your
expensive equipment.
SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS
Software is needed to keep you and your data
safe as well. At the least you need a good Anti-Virus software
program- and I recommend either Norton
Internet Security Utilities or CA
Internet Security Utilities. Here is one free tool that will
compliment IE or Firefox against phishing.
Netcraft
Toolbar - The Netcraft toolbar
gives you an instant warning if you are entering a phishing site. And
the tool is a free phishing tool - Gives you a risk rating of the
site, see the hosting location, protects you against phishing
attacks, helps you to evaluate fraudulent urls. Works with Internet
Explorer on Windows 2000/XP or Firefox 1.0 or later.
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