FileSlinger™ Backup Reminder 1-7-05: Going to Backup University

Dear FileSlinger clients, colleagues, and friends:

Happy New Year! Get 2005 off to a good start: back up your data.

I was preparing to start the year with a review of backup terminology when I came across a website I just had to tell you about: the Novastor Backup University.

The web page comes complete with a photo of graduates receiving diplomas, though I don’t believe they actually offer a Certificate in Backup Studies.

Here you can find out about the following subjects:

• Securing Your Computer in the New Year
• Backup Basics: A Practical Guide for the Everyday Person
• The Different Types of Backup
• Tips on Backup Strategies
• An Example of a Good Backup Strategy
• Good Passwords
• Top Data Security Mistakes
• Portals of Last Resort (Data Recovery) Why Backup?
• The $ Costs Why Backup?
• What Can Go Wrong
• How Do You Know if a Backup Set is Valid?
• Backup Media Care and Handling
• Network Backup White Papers
• Online Backup Case Studies
• Online Backup Resource Center

All of this is ultimately in the service of selling Novastor products and services, but that doesn’t reduce the value of the information provided. The “Why Backup?” articles contain some particularly arresting facts and figures, including a University of Wisconsin study reporting that “Of the companies that lose their data in a disaster, 29% are out of business within two years and nearly 43% never reopen their doors at all after the disaster!”

Ouch. That puts the cost of backup solutions into perspective, doesn’t it? (Their estimates of the cost per hour of computer down time for various industries do a pretty good job of that,

too.)

The “Backup Basics” article includes a link to the 732-page Backup Book, which is more than most people will want to take on despite its clear, easy-to-read style, but there’s also a neat summary of different types of backup and backup media in table form, followed by a similar table depicting the cost and features of Novastor’s various backup products. (The prices seem fairly reasonable for enterprise-level products and only slightly high for end-user (consumer-level) products.) If anyone decides to invest in them, let me know how it turns out!

I’ve never used any of Novastor’s products, so I can’t recommend them, but the website is definitely worth a visit. I can guarantee that you’ll learn something new–I certainly did.

Stay tuned for more backup news next week, when I’ll bring you that review of backup terminology.

Sallie