A couple of weeks ago we discussed the importance of personal data encryption and its use in the SOHO (small office home office) environment. This weeks focus will touch on that subject a bit as we discuss the topic of data redundancy and backup. Working with many small companies who request my consulting service, I notice the puzzled looks on many of my clients faces when I ask the question about redundant storage and the backup of critical data. Most users seem to believe that the life cycle of a hard disk is forever. Well, that observation can be far from true even with the introduction of solid-state storage. The thing to remember about storage devices is not if your device is going to fail but WHEN your device is going to fail. Having this mind set one can prepare for the worst-case scenario. What are some of the ways that users can backup data?
1. Cloud Storage ie “Carbonite” and “Dropbox”
2. Data Duplication – ghosting storage devices
First, we’ll take a look at Cloud Storage, which basically is a server farm of storage space. Using this method the user can upload data from the device of their choice and save it to a location that is different then the one used by the client. Since we’re conscience of the security of our data, how secure is the data once backed up? The answer to that question is not very secure. Companies such as Carbonite state that data pulled for storage is encrypted and transferred through (SSL). (SSL) adds a level of protecting as the data travels across the Internet to its destination. If you feel secure with the method of encryption the service provided sounds like a win win situation for your data. But what if you want to add a layer of encryption before your precious data is transferred. Well, then one could look towards “Truecrypt” as an additional encryption solution.
Next, we’ll look toward Data Duplication such as taking a storage device and completely copying its entire contents. To do this many look towards the commercial software “Symantec Norton Ghost” imaging software that replicates the data to a backup device. A free and open source alternative known as “Clonezilla” is the Linux equivalent that works just as good if not better in many ways. By using such software users can create multiple images of critical data for storage, which give them the ability to return back to a point last backed up if the first backup image is destroyed. The thing to note is that with Data duplication users are responsible for the amount of times they image the initial device to keep the backups current with the original. One important thing to think about is having more then one backup of the same device. A single point of failure can be created if users only create one image to backup data.
