Think That Tape Drive is a Good Choice for Backing Up the Company’s Data? You may not after reading this.

Peter Marsack
Vision Computer Solutions

Tape drives were the option of choice for many small businesses for years. If you are still using one to backup your important company data then you need to be aware of a few facts:
 
Fact #1. The average failure rate of tapes and tape drive technology is 100%. Incredible, isn’t it? That means it is not a matter of “if the tape drive fails, what do we do?” it’s “when the tape drive fails, what do we do?” The dangerous part is most companies don’t realize that their tape drives have failed until after they try to recover data that is stored on them. Only then is it realized that the tape drive backups stopped working a long time ago or the data is corrupt and cannot be used. This is a hard and expensive lesson to learn.
 
Fact #2. Tape drives are slow – plain and simple. Even if you do have a copy of your data on a tape backup, it will not guarantee a fast recovery of your network or data. You should also know that a data backup does not include things like software and settings. To use a real-life example, if you had to restore your server or computer using your backup data, you would first have to reinstall all of your programs and configure all of their settings.  Once this process was complete, you could then install all of the data – this could take several days or weeks!
 
Fact #3. Backups should not be kept onsite. The backup will not be worth anything if it gets destroyed in a fire, flood, power surge, or even stolen. Smart business owners always keep a copy of their business data offsite in a secure location.
 
You may appreciate technology, have learned to live with it, or despise the fact your organization needs it. The bottom line is if you think about the critical functions of your business and what the value of those functions are, it may be time to evaluate what a realistic backup means to your business. Try out some of these questions and see how they make you feel:

1. How long could your staff be productive without access to your server or network?
2. What would it cost the business to lose data for an extended period of time?
3. Every business owner is entitled to know their organization is protected in the event of a technical failure  Does this get reported to you in an easy to understand fashion?
4. Do you feel secure about your company data, client data, financial information, or any sensitive information that sits on your network?

 Don’t assume your network is protected and being backed up appropriately. Require proof now and often. This proof may be what saves your company thousands of dollars one day.

Peter Marsack is the Vice President of Business Development at Vision Computer Solutions, a leading provider of Michigan IT services and consulting. Peter is regularly quoted in notable industry publications such as InfoWorld and MSPAllianceTV. Visit Vision at www.vcsolutions.com for more information on their IT services.