IT is the lifeblood of any organisation and those who fail to take the correct steps to protect it do so at their peril. Loss of data is a major threat to businesses of all sizes – from single desktop operations to multi-networked concerns.

Any IT solution should not be restricted to the basics like computer repair, network and computer support , but should also take into account business continuity planning.

The sad fact is that nobody can predict if a business or a consumer is likely to suffer from a data loss emergency, but there are a number of areas that are generally prone potential problems which could arise from a basic electrical power surge, electronic or mechanical failure or even a sabotage attempt by a disgruntled employee. You also have to consider acts of nature i.e floods, storms or even natural disasters depending on your locality.

In recent years companies with foresight have invested in tape back-up systems, where all important data has been copied to tape, usually each night. But even some of those have fallen victim to theft, loss or tape failure. Fortunately technology has moved on and companies wishing to ensure the best possible protection have taken advantage of IT specialists offering the ultimate solution – offsite data back-up to remote, highly secure servers.

This then leads to the need for far more expensive data recovery or raid data recovery as a method of hopefully retrieving vital data.

Many companies are now investing in remote data backup models as part of their business continuity strategy as these have a number of significant advantages.

For example, despite being stored remotely, data can be restored in the workplace extremely easily by logging into the servers. Data is digitally encrypted so that it can be accessed by no one other than the company to whom it belongs. “It is also a very cost effective method compared to tape systems which are less reliable and constantly need replacing.”

If you have not yet implemented a disaster recovery plan for your business then you should put this high on your business agenda. Could your business survive if it were to lose all the client records on your CRM system or financial data from your accounts package. Don’t forget the cost is not purely the loss of data but also the lost business that may ensue as well as the time and resource to get things back on track.

And of course on a final note, once you have implemented a business continuity plan make sure you test it to make sure the plan is robust in a real environment.

The first thing to do is to do a search of your folders to make sure you have not saved it in the incorrect folder and if this does not fine the elusive file you can also try having a look in the recycle bin to make sure you have not accidently deleted it. If the file can still not be found then this may be indicative that you are suffering from a degraded drive.

Much as we would like to believe a hard drive will not last forever but has a definitive life expectancy which is often referred to as a mean time between failures (MTB). MTB can often be used as a reference to a drive future reliability and calculations would put expected drive failures at less than 0.1 percent.

But oh if life was so simple!

So the big question is when is the best time to renew my hard drive so it does not suffer from any failures?

This is a very difficult question to answer and also opens up a whole host of other factors that need to be taken into consideration as well.

The first major aspect is of course the use that a computer is put through during its lifespan. Many home users only use their Pc very occasionally and store relatively small numbers of files or photos. In this scenario it would be nice to expect a drive to last over 5 years (don’t assume this though).

The same expectation could be applied to the many mid range computer users which includes office Pc’s laptops and home desktop systems, where users have a small number of programs in use and small amounts of data or if data is stored on a central server.

But for power users it is an entirely different story. Extreme gamers and users of high end commercial applications will be driving their systems very hard indeed and the amount of data that is shifted into swap files or written back to the disk is huge so its only reasonable to expect disk life to be shorter and the chances of drive failure or disk degradation to be far higher.

High end computer users using high end applications will often have a much shorter expected life of their system, and desktop refresh tends to be around 3 years or so to avoid disk failure and to keep them at the cutting edge of computing productivity which is important for a business.

For business critical applications extended use sees a ramp up of hard disk degradation and also an increase in mechanical drive failures.

The time between desktop refreshes is often stretched during difficult economic climates but this is not without the greater risk of critical data loss due to failed or degraded drives especially where there is no disaster recovery plan in place.

Any business should in this day and age have effective online server backup and disaster recovery policies in place especially if postponing a business system upgrade.

Another prime factor affecting the longevity of the drive is of course disk maintenance. If your hard drive is allowed to become fragmented then it will have to work an awful lot harder to pick up information and in extreme cases of hard disk fragmentation drives can get very stressed to the point of failure.

Your lost file should be easily recoverable but you do need to bear in mind that any further information written to your hard drive can over write the file you are trying to save. This often happens with data recovery software so if diy recovery is your choice be warned.

Most data recovery services will be able to restore your deleted or lost files even if your drive has degraded and even if your drive has bad sectors that are unreadable data recovery and file recovery are often very successful.

* Secure Backups — All of your data is encrypted before it leaves your PC.
* Automatic Backups — Operates silently in the background to ensure your backup is up to date.
* Unlimited Storage — Backup as much of your data as you want for only $54.95/year.
* Hassle Free Recovery — Recover your lost files anytime, anywhere with the click of a mouse.

Each year, Nearly 50% of PC users lose priceless data. Even the ones who use onsite backup methods such as CDs, flash drives and external hard drives are at risk. Fires, floods, theft and other disasters can destroy your onsite backups. Carbonite Online Backup eliminates the risk of losing files by automatically backing up the irreplaceable photos, music, e-mails, financial records and other valuable files on your PC to a secure, offsite location. Carbonite takes less than 5 minutes to install and begins working right away to protect your most valuable files, constantly updating your data backups while you work without slowing down your PC. The best part is you can test drive for FREE for 15 days. Try Carbonite FREE today.

How Does Carbonite Work

After you install Carbonite, then Carbonite scans your hard drive looking for files to back up. Carbonite automatically backs up all file types except executable files, operating system files, temporary internet files and video files. However, any of the excluded file types can be manually added to the backup by right-clicking on the file and selecting “Back this up” from the Carbonite menu. Upon setup, Carbonite offers a wide array of options for customizing your backup, but most users stick with the default settings. Try Carbonite FREE today.

With the default settings, dots are placed on files and folders show their backup status in a glance. A green dot on a file or folder means it is selected for backup and is up to date. A yellow dot means that the file or folder is selected for backup but awaiting backup due to modification since the last backup. A green dot with a hole in the center (a “green donut”) on a folder means that the folder’s backup is up to date, but there are some files in the folder which are not selected for backup. If a file or folder has no dot, it means it is not selected for backup. Try Carbonite FREE today.

Backup

Carbonite is designed to automatically back up most files in the Documents and Settings folder, which includes “My Documents” and “Desktop”. Some users choose to manually select files for backup, or decide to back up files that are stored in different locations. Any file or folder can be added to the backup by simply right-clicking on the file or folder and selecting “Back this up” from the Carbonite menu. Once files and folders are selected for backup, they will be continually backed up silently in the background so that your backup is always up to date. Try Carbonite FREE today.

Restore

If anything ever happens to your PC, restoring your lost files is easy. If you need to restore a specific file or folder, simply open the Carbonite Backup Drive from your desktop. Files and folders are organized in the backup drive exactly as they are on your PC. Locate the specific file or folder, right-click and select “restore.” The file will be restored to its original location on your hard drive. You also have the option of restoring the file to a new location, by selecting “Restore to…” or recovering a previous version of the file by selecting “Restore previous versions…”

If you need to restore everything in your backup to a new or repaired PC, go to carbonite.com and click the Restore tab to log in to your account and restore your files. The Carbonite Restore Wizard will help you restore all of your files to your new PC with just a few clicks of the mouse. Try Carbonite FREE today.

Security

Carbonite is one of the leaders in online backup, not only for its ease of use, but also for its strong security. Carbonite uses the same technology as online banking and credit card purchases, Your files are encrypted to protect your privacy. Files are encrypted before leaving your PC and sent to Carbonite’s data center over a secure connection. In the data centers, files are stored on RAID arrays, which are much more reliable than single hard drive configurations.

Carbonite Online Backup is the secure, simple and automatic way to back up your PC. Try Carbonite Online Backup FREE for 15 days — and never think about losing your data again.