StorageCraft | ShadowProtect Backup Software Blog » data backup

Server Phobia

Laura Shafer — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:48:16 +0000

The March 2010 edition of Channel Pro has a great story about how to sell small businesses on system security. The article focuses on business that don’t have servers, but still need data protection and security. One StorageCraft partner, Bill Hole of The Hole Group, discussed how he’s using StorageCraft ShadowProtect to backup his customers’ data locally and off-site. Even though he’s recommended the customer upgrade and move to a server environment, the customer is happy knowing the company data is still safe.

When we talked about their budget for an upgrade, they still refused a server,” says Hole “They asked what [they] would gain from a server. Instead, they bought a second TeraStation and are happy with their decision.

The article also gives tips and tricks for selling your services to companies that aren’t networked. You can view the entire digital version of Channel Pro online.

New Year’s Backup Resolutions – How are you Doing?

Laura Shafer — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:50:27 +0000

It’s one week into the new year and how many resolutions have you kept so far? Here’s an easy one to make and keep: resolve that you’ll absolutely, positively back up every desktop and laptop you manage. As we’ve mentioned before, analysts say a startling number of PCs aren’t getting backed up — even when they’re connected to a network.

If you just received a brand new PC during the holidays, maybe you bought a laptop for yourself at an after-Christmas sale, or maybe you just installed Windows 7 on several hundred desktops that you manage –whatever the situation, now is the time to get organized and protect those systems.

Running ShadowProtect Desktop as your backup will make that incredibly easy. You can schedule it to backup the entire system and all of the data to a handy removable drive, or save your backup image files over a network. It’s very easy to set and forget, until you need to restore. Then you’ll be thanking your foresight (or management skills) for taking the time to have a simple disaster recovery plan in place.

And ShadowProtect Desktop fully supports Windows 7, starting with version 3.5x. You can download a free trial of ShadowProtect Desktop from the StorageCraft Web site and see for yourself how easy it is to use. What better way to protect your time and investment in a new operating system and/or new PC than to have a reliable backup? That’s one resolution that’s easy to keep.

The Data Without a Backup

Laura Shafer — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:54:57 +0000

Lauren Whitehouse — an analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group – has a great article about using virtualization for desktop backup in this month’s Storage (free subscription required to view article). She also included some startling statistics about the number of PCs that are not backed up.

According to recent ESG research, only 26% of nearly 500 midmarket and enterprise IT respondents said that all of their desktop PCs are backed up, and only 18% of organizations back up all of their laptops. Furthermore, 24% of respondents said they have no data protection process at all for their desktops, and 29% don’t back up their laptops.

The problem is that a lot of your company’s data is stored on those laptops that you aren’t backing up. Of course, the easy solution is backup and disaster recovery software, like ShadowProtect, that will back up all that data without requiring intervention from your users. ShadowProtect is compatible with all kinds of virtualized systems, too.

I can tell you from firsthand experience that backups of your desktops and laptops will save you hours and hours of lost productivity. Consider the cost of the software versus the likelihood that you will have a PC crash. ESG puts the average hard drive failure rate at 2-4%. When you add on the other crises that can hit you (stolen laptops, weather disasters,viruses and malware, user mishandling) and the need for a reliable backup on each end user system can skyrocket. Why play the numbers game? You should be protecting all of the systems and data in your enterprise because the alternative could be frightening.

Data Backup and Restore: Don’t Let this Happen to You

Laura Shafer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:04:14 +0000

It took almost a month, but T Mobile’s Sidekick is back on the market again. The company is selling them again, following a major service outtage that left them scrambling. At first, they were worried they’d lost customer data, including photos. When they were able to restore customer data, they forked over $100 gift cards to customers. The whole exercise was a public relations disaster and a case study in the need for reliable data backup.

Many SMBs don’t survive a major data loss following a disaster. In fact, Gartner estimates that 40% will go out of business if they can’t access data within 24 hours following a major crisis, and another 25% of the businesses that do survive a disaster will fail within two years.

The best way to address the problem is to start with a disaster recovery plan that includes reliable backup for your systems and data. No matter what method you’re using to create your offsite backup — failing over to the cloud, FTP, etc. — you’ll need a rapid response onsite too. You need plans for short-term and long-term emergencies. There are some great articles about how to start a DR plan, but this story outlines some of the things you should avoid when you’re putting it together.

Even the big guys make mistakes when it comes to data backup. The big guys can probably weather the financial upheaval — can you?