Data Security & Disaster Recovery Planning

It’s Never Too Late to Plan and Implement a Back-Up System

The recent California wildfires that have ravaged the state have again reminded us of the beautiful but brutal force of Mother Nature.  To date approximately 490,000 acres of land have been scorched, or roughly half of the state of Rhode Island.  Some 1,800 homes and damages estimated at over $1 billion dollars, with over 80% of the actual damages centered in the San Diego County region.  When Mother Nature strikes, it is big news. And while loss of life is truly irreplaceable, these disasters affect many other aspects of life.

From a business standpoint, there is a heightened awareness about data loss and data recovery.

When disaster strikes, whether in the form of fires, earthquakes, a hurricane, a blackout, or far more likely, a virus attack, software or user error, your ability to respond quickly to the crisis can make the difference between a bright future and the end of your business. At a minimum you are likely to incur significant costs in lost business and, perhaps more importantly, lost confidence by your clients.  Business continuity is not just about insurance; it’s about maintaining your competitive edge that you’ve worked so hard to achieve in the first place.

Data Replication or Proper Protection for Reduced Vulnerability

Effective protection, or data replication, is not about having a single technology, but about providing protection against the full range of the types of failures that may affect your business.  Anything that keeps your business from doing what it does is a disaster, whether that be a flood, virus, or bug in your server software.  An effective back-up plan increases your ability to respond, and therefore your ability to provide continuous, reliable service to your customers and clients. 

What Methods Do I Need to Consider?

The tremendous advances in data storage technology have been taken for granted by most users.  At the same time, the high-tech world of computers gives the users a false feeling of invincibility.  A visit to the local electronics store will allow you to purchase a simple hard-drive back-up that can pretty much save a huge amount of data – including names and addresses, photo files, images and graphics, along with more crucial information files like word documents, personal banking and finance, family history and documents, as well as business files and company history. 

Data replication is the basis of all disaster recovery solutions and involves periodically copying a significant volume’s data onto a secondary storage device, which can be located any distance from the original – in most cases preferably a safe distance away.  For the small business person, this can be a mobile or removable storage unit, which for the most case, is quite inexpensive ranging in price from $60 to a more sophisticated model with a price tag of over $1,500

While data storage devices have become more robust than in the past, the sheer numbers have made data disasters more common than ever before. There are many reasons why hard disk drives and other data storage devices can and do fail.  This may require you to consider an even more advanced “secondary storage unit” that can help back-up your systems in the event the primary back-up is damaged or suffers from some type of catastrophic failure. A properly managed back-up system will allow for a fast recovery and continuation of your business, and will in the long run, significantly reduce costs that are often associated with business and data recovery.

Some Common Steps You Can Take to Ensure Your Data’s Safety

It can happen anytime, anywhere, and to anybody. If you deal with data extensively, the odds are you will suffer data loss sooner or later. The important thing is being able to cope with it. And different types of users need to have different strategies for safeguarding their data. A high school student who uses his PC for gaming and the occasional term project cannot be expected to have UPS, tape back-ups and RAID systems.  On the other hand, a bank cannot feel complacent that it has protected its database by installing the latest anti-virus software and anything else is overkill.

The user profile, the importance of the data, and available budget and resources all impact the data protection strategy. However, these are some general tips that are offered by professionals for avoiding and surviving data loss:

• Carry all laptops in appropriate padded cases
• Use power surge protectors, and UPS systems for critical data
• Use regularly updated anti-virus software
• Schedule and make a regular back-up of all important data (including laptop drives)
• Test your back-ups regularly to make sure the data is retrievable
• If it is mission critical business data, store it on RAID systems
• Restrict unauthorized access
• If you still lose the data, do not panic; seek professional advice and assistance
• In some cases you may utilize a professional data recovery company
• Data recovery is a specialized field, and not every computer technician can retrieve data
• Look at the company experience, expertise, locations, facilities, testimonials, etc.
• Request and review all charges and scenarios that apply to your specific business

Remember, no matter how catastrophic the situation may seem, it pays to have your hard drive or storage device evaluated by a professional service.  In the event of an actual data loss, chances are good that eventual efforts will be successful in recovering critical data regardless of how it was lost or how catastrophic it was in the first place. Finally, make sure you take the prudent steps to investigate some type of redundant back-up of your vital information and data.  Failure to do so will result in increased costs and will certainly put your business and your clients at risk needlessly.  A properly supported data base is a professional way to conduct business, and ensures that despite a breakdown or catastrophic event, your business and your clients will continue to receive the full benefits of your real estate business.

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