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Tip of the Month

August 2002

Backup, Backup, Backup. Did we mention backup?

As most of you are now aware, on July 15th, WildPackets suffered a fire that proved devastating to our home of almost 12 years. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the six-alarm blaze as it occurred at 12:30 AM. However, the fire has offered us some interesting insight that we would like to share with you. Thankfully, due to off-site backups we were able to get back on our feet and shipping products within a week, but not planning sufficiently could leave you in a much worse predicament.

The most important lesson that we have learned from this devastating fire is that a thorough backup strategy cannot be overvalued.

1. Be sure to give your plan a complete test.

A strategy is only as good as it can be tested. This will help you to determine how long it will take you to restore your backups and whether there might be any holes in your restored information. A speedy restore will ensure that time-critical data will maintain its value. Also, being sure that all of the information can be sufficiently restored, will avoid discoveries that might not be recognized until it is too late.

2. Take backups off site regularly and often.

A backup that is co-located with the original information will do you no good in a situation where the building is destroyed. Also, making a plan to take backups off site will only be effective if it is actually executed.

3. Make sure that your backup strategy does not leave any critical group left unprotected.

As a central hub of protection for the safety of your organization against a catastrophe like the fire that we experienced, be sure to find sufficient solutions for all members of your organization. Even if you do not take direct responsibility for backing up each system, be sure that your plan includes everyone.

4. Make sure you have the proper hardware offsite to execute your restore.

Certain software/hardware backup combinations require a particular configuration in order to work properly. If this is the case with your package, be sure that your off-site storage is equipped.

5. Mirrored systems that can instantly stand in are ideal.

If systems are knocked out statewide, such as in the result of an earthquake, having a server already online and redundant will ensure no unnecessary loss of operations for distributed organizations.

Hopefully, your plan is in place and being religiously followed. The planning and execution that you invest will ensure the best possible business continuity.