Imagine you evacuate for a hurricane and when you come back all of your computers and backups have been underwater for a few days. For individuals the loss can be devastating for companies it can end business as you know it.
Here are some tips that the geek here at Geek News Central implemented many years ago when walked into my office to find that 3 machines have been hacked and all of our data had been destroyed.
1st I cross pollinate between 4 machines nightly they all have the same core important files on them.
2nd I do a complete critical data backup to a separate external Maxtor drive weekly. The rest of the time it is unplugged and stored in what I term the go bag.
3rd On a monthly basis I take that drive to a local bank were I have a safety deposit box, and swap it with a duplicate. In addition that safety deposit box holds passwords and account info and masters of life insurance policies and anything else that I have figured out that would ruin my life in case of a fire or natural disaster. All of the items in that Safety Deposit box are ziplock bags and the bank is not in a flood or tidal wave zone.
4th I have duplicate and scanned copies of all paper correspondence that are critical stored in two cases that are the go bags. They are in a location in my home were they will be grabbed if we have to evacuate for a hurricane or tsunami.
5th I have one computer with 6 removable drives that contain what I consider level 2 info. The computer is raid compliant and contains mirrors of all my computers hard drives and images of every software application I have ever purchased. Takes about 10 seconds to pull all six drives. The wife and I keep checklist in our wallets, and on the front cover of the go bags.
Some will say are you crazy? My response is what would you do today if all of the data you have stored in your home was destroyed. We live in a digital age so not only do companies have to worry about having recoverable backups but individuals should also. Come up with a data disaster plan for your personal information and someday you will be glad you did. [Washington Post]