COMPUTING CENTER
July, 2009
Why we don’t backup our
computers:
1.. It’s boring
It is a task without re-
ward—99.99% of the
IT NEWSLETTER
time.
The belief that “it won’t
happen to me.” Computing Tips and Tricks….
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If you use discs-CDs or Data loss happens more than you 3. 96% of all business computers the truth is, it could. As computers
DVDs—it is a good practice realize, according to some re- are not being backed up. continue to become the principle
to make 2 copies of each disc. search groups. The odds are way in which many people conduct
Check to make sure the files against you if you are not backing 4. 100% is the failure rate of important transactions, this type of
were copied correctly. Store up your data. disks and tape drives-all drives thinking is risky. To make matters
discs in a cool dry location. If eventually fail. worse, today’s computers are more
possible store discs in 2 loca- vulnerable to the imminent threats
tions—in case of fire or theft. According to that are multiplying on the internet.
the National
If you use an external hard Computer Secu- Do you need to back up all of your
drive: Consider the size of rity Association computer data? The short answer
the external drive. A 500 gb it may take: is “no, you do not need to backup
external drive cost around 19 days and all of the files on your computer”.
$100. $17,000 to rec- However, there are certain files that
reate 20mb of you do need to backup, so that in
If you are working on an im- lost sales/ the event that your computer de-
portant document (and it is marketing data; cides it is time to “go”, you will not
not too large) you can email it 21 days and be at a total loss.
to a colleague or yourself for a Some scary statistics: $19,000 to recreate 20mb of lost
saved copy on the mail server. accounting data; So what files should you backup:
Print a copy that can always 1. 25% of all PC users suffer 42 days and $98,000 to recreate just important files that you have cre-
be scanned in an emergency. from data loss each year. 20mb of lost engineering data. ated—documents, spreadsheets,
That is 1 in 4… projects, photos, email contacts,
and perhaps your browser book-
2. 15% of all laptops are stolen Many of us prefer to adhere to the marks.
or suffer hard drive failure. idea of “it’ll never happen to me”,
A plan: Develop a
quick and easy backup Backup workshops: The Computing
routine. The faster you Center will be holding workshops
can backup your work, Backup Tips on : Backing up your data-
the more likely you will The workshops are scheduled every
actually backup your It is highly recommended that Thursday (as long as needed) in the
Rule: the simpler the Computing Center lab
you store the most important
work. It may take a procedure, the more likely
files in the “My Documents” 10 am—11 am and 2pm –3pm
little time to plan this folder. it is to succeed.
The first workshop will be held on
routine, but it will pay You should do a full backup of Test your backups on a July 23. Please email sgiles@hsc.edu
off. all your files, folders, emails, regular basis.
or call 6371 to reserve your space in
and Internet favorites Physically protect your one of the workshops. We will send
first...and after that point do backups. Lock them in a emails to ―nag‖ you until you come.
incremental backups of newly secure location.
added or modified files. If thus far, you have managed
Backup software can be
scheduled to run automati- Backups should be done on a to avoid a disaster recovery And on a different note -A little
regular basis to match your scenario, then consider yourself justice….The ―spam king‖, Alan Ralsky,
cally at particular intervals.
workload. lucky. Consider this as an op- has plead guilty to sending spam and will
However, this method can
fail to run. Instead you Backups should be stored in a portunity to correct an over- serve up to 7 years in prison. He and four
safe location. sight. accomplices plead guilty to email fraud.
should manually start the
backup routine when you Backups should be done on
Step up and become the
The U.S. Prosecutors believe the team
acquired over 3 million dollars from their
are ready to backup data. well established hardware and master of your computer scam between January 2004 and
checked for reliability. instead of the other way. September 2005.