World Backup Day

Today is World Backup Day.  Are you prepared to lose data? Do you have a plan to protect your critical information? Data loss is a reality. It comes in many forms, but for any user of modern technology, it is a matter of when, not if data loss will strike.

The most common cause of data loss is hard drive failure, and is by far the most common hardware failure seen in computing devices today. The reasons for drive failure vary, but the fact remains they do fail. For most equipment, the failure rate goes up significantly after the three year mark. Additionally, many people do not realize that drive failure is most often not related to usage. The largest amount of drive failures are due to the magnetic surface (which stores the data) weakening over time, and that still happens with the computer off or the drive in a drawer.

There are many other causes of data loss as well. Some of which are:

• Accidental or malicious file deletion
• Physical damage and loss (fire, flood, theft)
• Malware and viruses

One of the worst and most advanced threats today comes from what we call ransomware. This is a type of virus that if you become infected by it encrypts the files on your computer making them useless to you. Ransomware will also try to encrypt other machines on your network and backup drives you have attached. The only recourse is to either pay the ransom (which is not a certain bet when dealing with criminals), or have a backup that was unaffected by the virus.

At QuickFix we have seen far too many customers think their external backup was enough, but it often was not. The drive may have been going bad, the backup may not have been configured correctly, etc. In addition, a local backup often does not keep multiple versions of your backups, which is often necessary in the event of a ransomware attack, nor does it protect against fire or other damage that can affect the computers and their backup.

Our QuickWatch service helps protect against all of these. At the pro and ultimate levels it includes encrypted online backups. These backups are HIPAA compliant, meeting or exceeding the standards required for digital storage and transmission of medical records, so you know your data is safe. These backups are professionally monitored, so that we know that you are getting the backups you need.  The system keeps 60 days of backup revisions, plus 10 years of monthly archiving, meaning that in the event of damage to your data, or a loss of data that goes undiscovered for a long time, we can always go back to an earlier date, starting from the date we first backed up your PC. In addition, QuickWatch provides the best protection possible against malware and viruses that could damage your data. Your backups and your computers health and security are monitored daily by caring professionals who know how important your data and your PC are to you, whether you use it for architectural drawings or chicken soup recipes.

Below you can find a comparison of the main styles of backups and decide which is best for you.  If you want us to help with any of these, just give us a call, or drop us a line from our contact page and we will be happy to assist.  Remember though, computers can be replaced.  Much like a house.  It is some of the things inside it that are valuable.  A backup is cheap insurance for your data.