Data Backup represents the activity/process of copying files or databases so that they will be preserved in case of equipment failure or other catastrophe. Backup is usually a routine part of the operation of large businesses with mainframes as well as the administrators of smaller business computers. For personal computer users, backup is also necessary but often neglected. The retrieval of files you backed up is called restoring them.
Data loss can be determined by many things ranging from computer viruses to hardware failures to file corruption to fire, flood, or theft. If you are responsible for business data, a loss may involve critical financial, customer, and company data. If the data is on a personal computer, you could lose financial data and other key files, pictures, music, that would be hard to replace.
As part of a data backup plan, you should consider the following:
– What data (files and folders) to backup;
– What compression method to use;
– How often to run your backups;
– What type of backups to run;
– What kind of media on which to store the backups;
– Where to store the backup data for safekeeping.
Suggestions for backups
• Encrypt backups that contain sensitive data;
• Always keep extra backups off-site in a secure location (in case of property damage);
• Verify your backups to make sure files are retrievable;
• Destroy or sanitize your backups (e.g., tapes, CDs) before discarding them.