Ensure your data is fireproof with CrashPlan
Categories: End Users Information Outages
A couple weeks ago a fire was intentionally set in Ag Hall. Thankfully, someone saw it and quickly put it out. There was no major damage other than a destroyed bulletin board, some scorched ceiling tiles, and charred wall paint. This close call brought up a very important question: what in my office would I be all right without, if it were suddenly gone?
Fire damage after bulletin board removed, walls cleaned, and ceiling tile replaced.
That is a very frightening question to ask, and to be honest, I hope that I (or you) never have to face that situation. I would probably survive and be able to continue my job without any of the items in my office. Would it be easy? No, it would not be easy. I would have to start over from scratch and recreate a lot of documents and information not to mention order and setup a new computer, which would take quite a bit of time. You are probably thinking, “Well do you have a backup?” I do have a backup. However, it is only a local backup. If my office were ever destroyed, the backup drive would be destroyed along with my computer and I would have none of the data that is currently on my computer or other devices.
There is a way that my data could be backed up that would guarantee I would not lose it even if the building were destroyed. If I were using CrashPlan, an offsite backup service, I would have all of my files backed up to a secured server off site. We currently have several offices that are using CrashPlan and have found it very useful. Thankfully, we have not had any office fully destroyed. However, we have seen computers fail and when the computers were backed up to CrashPlan we were able to recover all the files from those computers. CrashPlan has also enabled us to recover individual files when files are accidentally deleted or written over.
It is very important to have a backup in place because computers can fail, accidents and natural disasters can happen. Local backups are great and are very highly recommended. However, when it comes to major disasters or accidents, CrashPlan can be a huge help. We currently recommend a family plan, which will back up a maximum of 10 computers with unlimited space for each computer for $149 a year. If you are interested in Crashplan, please contact your support specialist. We would be happy to get you more information and even help set it up if you choose to purchase it.