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Thursday, August 21, 2008

Disaster Prevention & Recovery

PC Data Backups strongly encourages you to design an appropriate disaster prevention and recovery plan to protect your mission-critical data.

Consider investing in the following hardware and software to ensure that you are as prepared as possible against threats to your data. The amount you should invest depends on the nature and likelihood of various data threats, your budget, and the value of your time and data.

Online Backups

Our offsite computer backup service is the foundation of any disaster prevention system. No matter what happens to your hardware, software or data, if you have a recent backup, you can recover your data from any type of disaster.

Antivirus Software

Threat: Viruses are a constant threat to your data. A virus can infect memory, disks and other data storage devices, and can corrupt or delete individual data and operating system files or wipe out an entire disk.

Solution: Antivirus software can both prevent your computer from being infected by viruses, and disinfect your computer if it is already infected. Scans can be run at any time or scheduled to run automatically. Antivirus software can also be configured to actively monitor your system memory and incoming files for invading viruses. It is important to keep your virus definitions up to date so that recently created viruses can be recognized. We encourage the use of auto protection and auto update.

Options: Some of the most popular antivirus software packages include Norton Antivirus, McAfee VirusScan, and Grisoft AVG (a free version is available).

Firewalls and Routers

Threat: Hackers, viruses, spyware and other malicious software can connect to your computer or run software from your computer to compromise your data and your privacy, slow down your system, etc.

Solution: A firewall protects your incoming and outgoing connections from abuse by untrusted software.

Options: If you use Windows XP, you can enable the built-in Windows Internet Connection Firewall by right-clicking your network connection and clicking Properties. Click the Advanced tab and check the box "Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet".

Some of the most popular software firewalls include Norton Personal Firewall (part of Norton Internet Security), Zone Labs ZoneAlarm (a free version is available), McAfee, Sygate and Tiny. We recommend using one of these in conjunction with the built-in Windows firewall.

Hardware firewalls from Cisco Systems, NETGEAR, and D-Link Systems cost more but provide higher security.

Solution: A router is a hardware device that allows your local network to connect to the Internet. Routers can provide a layer of security because they can be configured to control incoming and outgoing connections.

Adware and Spyware Protection

Threat: Adware and spyware are related software that infects your computer, monitors your Internet usage, and annoys you with advertisements or collects information that can be used to target you to advertisers.

Solution: Adware and spyware protection packages block or remove adware and spyware.

Options: Some popular adware and spyware protection software packages are Lavasoft AdAware and SpyBot Search and Destroy.

Popup Blocker

Threat: Many sites produce unwanted, annoying, time-wasting popup ads whenever you visit them.

Solution: Popup blocker software prevents these ads from appearing.

Options: Some of the most popular popup blockers are included in toolbars from Google, MSN, and Yahoo.

Windows Security Updates

Threat: Many viruses and hackers exploit security holes in the Windows operating system to access, abuse and damage computer systems and data.

Solution: Windows security updates are software patches that reduce these weaknesses.

Options: You can download and install Windows updates from Microsoft's website. You can also start from Windows Help and click Windows Update.

Power Protection

Threat: Power surges and sags caused by lightning strikes, demand spikes and faulty wiring can cause file corruption and even hardware damage. A power cut could corrupt Windows or interrupt your backup and other critical software.

Solution: A surge protector is hardware that protects your equipment from power surges.

Solution: An uninterruptible power supply is hardware that regulates the power, also protecting your equipment from power sags and outages.

Example: Our mirrored data centers have redundant power supplies and backup generators.

Alternate Worksite

Threat: If your office is destroyed by a natural disaster, you will need an alternate place to work.

Solution: Be prepared with a contingency of operations plan that includes a place to move your organization's operations, including office space, furniture, hardware and software.

If you have or can obtain computers with identical models, you can restore your entire system, including all applications and data, using the Windows Recovery feature of PC Data Backups.
If you are restoring to different computers, you can at least recover your data and reinstall your software.

Hardware Security and Physical Security

Threat: If your hardware is not physically secure, your data is vulnerable to theft and sabotage.

Solution: There are many devices you can consider, such as traditional or electronic locks and keys, burglar bars, alarms, motion detectors, security badges and security guards.

Example: Our mirrored data centers have excellent physical security.

Management

Threat: If nobody is responsible for your data protection, you can't be sure that your data will be protected.

Solution: Management should write and implement a disaster prevention and recovery plan which includes a needs analysis, a hardware and software solution, a budget, and an implementation plan.

Feel free to contact us if you would like specific information or advice on disaster prevention and recovery. Our CEO, Dan Dugal, is an expert in this area and is even available to present a free disaster prevention seminar at your franchise headquarters.

Start your disaster prevention plan today with PC Data Backups: Download a 30-day free trial!

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