Boost IT

IT Management & Cybersecurity

Backup & Disaster Recovery

IT Recovery After a Major Flood

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Natural disasters can be devastating. A major flood can destroy everything. When we look at the flooding from Hurricane Harvey, it can be difficult to imagine that it can happen to any of us. But it can. While a business can rebuild and purchase new IT infrastructure, what would happen to your business in the case of data loss?

According to the FEMA, “Protecting Your Business” article, almost 40 percent of small businesses never reopen their doors after a flood disaster. Another statistic from the National Archives and Records Administration indicates that approximately 60 percent of companies that lose data after a disaster shut down within six months. Preparation is critical to avoid this happening to your business.

In early August, Boost IT worked with a client in Atlanta where their office flooded. It wasn’t a historic flood like Hurricane Harvey, but it was severe enough to be destructive to their business. Electronics and water don’t mix, so as you can imagine their infrastructure was useless after the flood waters receded. Even desktop PCs that were elevated had to be replaced because once water got into the electrical system it sent power surges to any connected electronics or technology devices.

Luckily, our client was prepared for the unexpected. Boost IT helped them get back to work within 24 hours at another location while we procure new equipment and got it installed in their new space. Since we designed and managed their network that included on-premise storage for speed and cloud storage to use in a disaster recovery scenario, it significantly reduced their downtime and gave them peace of mind that their data was safe.

Start with Prevention

When preparing for the unexpected, the first step is understanding the two main ways floods happen.

o   Natural disasters like hurricanes and other storms that involve rain

o   Engineering issues like a weak dam or building structure damage; this can be a water leak from a burst pipe or broken plumbing structure

Prevention is always the best way to minimize a problem. Maintaining piping and structures is necessary to help prevent floods for plumbing, roofs, and structural damage. In a similar way, maintenance of your IT system can help prevent data loss from infrastructure that is damaged during a flood. That maintenance should include verifying your backup and recovery system is operating properly and testing it daily.

Have a plan

While IT infrastructure can be replaced, many companies can’t recover from a flood after the intellectual property is lost. The replacement of hard drives and other infrastructural creates downtime. Your staff can often redo some of the work that is lost, but if a server that connects to multiple workstations fails, your problems with downtime can multiply fast. Therefore, it’s important to have a solid disaster recovery plan in place before a flood occurs.

Recovering IT so you get Back to Business

When you have a backup recovery plan, you are prepared to restore data that was backed up to a device or cloud server. It’s important that your backup system is in a different location to protect it from flooding. In developing your backup recovery plan, consider what files are necessary to store in a server on the premises, which ones need to be on a server off the premises, and which require a backup.

More companies are recognizing the alternative of utilizing cloud storage so files are secure and not affected by a natural disaster, such as a flood. While cloud storage might not be right for storing all your files, it can help reduce the amount of data that needs to be restored, and provide instant access to minimize downtime so employees can work remotely for business continuity.

Boost IT assists with planning backup and disaster recovery services, and providing cloud and DRaaS. Understanding the differences in these services can have a huge effect on your business revenue in case of flooding. For more information, read our blog post about The Differences between Backup, Disaster Recovery, & Business Continuity or contact us at 404-865-1289.

Planning for Data Recovery Before a Natural Disaster

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When a natural disaster hits, your data can be affected. Everything, including your IT infrastructure, can be destroyed. Getting back up and running is critical for the health of your business. How quickly you can resume operations depends largely on what you do to protect your data before a disaster occurs. Having a data recovery plan is critical.

Protecting Data with a Disaster Recovery Plan

What is a data recovery plan?

A data recovery plan is a process or set of procedures, usually in written form, that outline how your data will be recovered in case of a disaster. It is typically developed in conjunction with the business continuity plan and traditionally refers to data recovery as a backup that restores data to a device or external server.

What files get backed up?

One of the first steps in a data recovery plan is determining what data is most important to back up. While the cloud is amazing for working remotely, it is also helpful in providing secure, online storage that is not affected by a natural disaster. Businesses resume operations anywhere, at any time, with continuous access to their daily files. But there are certain files that are not usually stored in a cloud. Files that are not as frequently accessed, such as those for insurance and regulatory purposes, might be stored in a server on the premises and require a backup.

If you have multiple locations and it is your headquarters that is destroyed, you might have large data, such as employee and accounting files, that are most vulnerable during a disaster and require a backup.

Where are backup files located?

Once you determine what files need a backup, your next step is determining where to keep them. Ideally, a company might want a second server to backup their operating server. Having a second server nearby could be convenient if you have multiple local facilities, but it could put data at risk depending on the geographic extent of the disaster. Therefore, a backup server should be located a good distance away to account for extensive storm systems.

While having a second server might seem logical for some businesses, it is not always cost effective. Many small to medium businesses have found the cost of maintaining a backup server costly because of such factors as managing big data, ever-changing technology, and added infrastructure. For this reason, they look at third-party hosting of a physical or virtual server, known as Disaster-Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS).

Boost IT assists with planning for disaster recovery, and providing cloud and DRaaS. Understanding the differences in these services can have a huge effect on your business revenue in case of a natural disaster. For more information, read our blog post about The Differences between Backup, Disaster Recovery, & Business Continuity or contact us at 404-865-1289.

What Will Happen to Your Data if Disaster Strikes

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Your data is your company’s most valuable asset. It could be at risk if a disaster strikes. The potential event will cause a disruption. How big of a disruption can depend on how big of a disaster and how well you’ve prepared.

According to the National Archives and Records Administration, approximately 60 percent of companies that lose data after a disaster shut down within six months. An estimated 93 percent of companies that lost their data center for 10 days or more filed bankruptcy within one year of the setback. To minimize your risk, protecting your data from all types of disasters is critical.

Types of Disasters

Natural Disaster

Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, and blizzards can damage and destroy both personal and intellectual property within seconds. If your business location experiences a natural disaster, you want your data protected and safely stored until your business can operate.

A natural disaster could cause a long, physical recovery time. It could take months for your business to come back. Having a data recovery plan can help the business provide necessary information for insurance and regulatory purposes while allowing you to operate in a temporary location.

Criminal Disaster

Cyberattacks are becoming more common for small to medium businesses. Someone physically or virtually attacks your systems to obtain sensitive data or corrupt files. Your entire database could be wiped clean – gone. It’s important to have data backed up in a separate location, secure from cybercriminals. But having a backup is only part of the problem.

If your data gets lost from a cyberattack, you could be looking at sensitive data being stolen and legal woes. All those years of building trust with your clients could be forgotten. Plus, the repercussions of a criminal attack could go on for years. You need different planning to protect your data from a criminal disaster compared to other disasters.

System Failure

When a component in your hardware fails, you could have a part that needs to be repaired or replaced. This is a common disaster type that usually leads to downtime for one or more employees. Besides the downtime for determining the problem and fixing it, there is the downtime for redoing any work that was lost after a system failure. If a server that connects to multiple workstations fails, your problems with downtime can multiply fast.

Mistakes/Accidents

Human error causes more disasters than most companies want to admit. A mistake might consist of deleting a file, or using someone else’s work as a template and then saving over it. It can be a nightmare trying to recreate what is lost. When your data is backed up, your IT professional can obtain the original file from the backup source.

A big problem with data recovery is that no one is fully prepared for a disaster. The potential event will cause a disruption. Small scale data loss such as a power outage will have downtime that is a nuisance but can realistically be recreated. A large amount of data that is lost with a major disaster can be devastating.

Having a solid disaster recovery plan in place before a disaster strikes and automatically testing it daily is the best protection for your data. Boost IT can help you protect your data from all types of disasters. We will assist with assessing your systems and regulatory requirements, putting together a disaster recovery plan, and running the appropriate tests. To find out more, contact us at 404-865-1289.

Why Companies Are Doing Business in the Cloud

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With professionals on the go, in the office and telecommuting, more companies are doing business in the Cloud. This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the technical landscape is continuously changing. Businesses are realizing the impact of the Cloud with greater competitiveness and productivity. They can operate more efficiently, more safely and cut costs that help free up capital.

4 Reasons to Do Business in the Cloud

Increased Security

It’s important to concentrate on your business’ primary goals, and your internet security should be one of them. Cloud servers offer a safe way to store data. Companies providing Cloud services have some of the best technology and security experts in the industry to continuously monitor threats and address them. And security is more than hacking; it is about making sure your data is stored safely so it is available when you need it. If a natural disaster or a system failure were to occur, you want to feel more than confident your data is safe. You want to know it is safe.

Accessibility

As an authorized user, you can get secure access from many devices at different times and locations. Doing business in the Cloud allows specified employees to access files from anywhere, at any time. For example, if you are visiting with a client and have an impromptu discussion on a project, you can pull up files even if you are halfway around the world. This can make the difference in landing new projects.

Productivity

It’s amazing how much more productive you can be when you operate in the Cloud. Software is up-to-date and doesn’t impede the speed of your devices. There are no barriers to moving in and out of applications and the applications are integrated with software to maximize productivity. The number of applications you can access are unlimited and help with time management, collaborations, note taking and more.

Cost Effectiveness

Many companies are realizing the savings by using the Cloud. You don’t need to maintain as large a server or you can do away with a server completely. The Cloud also provides a cost-effective way to backup files and store them. And it’s not just the cost of maintaining the backup where you save money. Backing up files can be especially costly when workflow is disrupted because the backup fails or is not done correctly. Additionally, you can decrease your costs for network consulting while your IT personnel spends less time on overhead and more time on billable projects.

A great example of why companies are doing business in the cloud is our client at Griffith Engineering. We consolidated their servers to eliminate the cost of a branch server and integrated their network with Cloud services using our Rocketsync software for increased productivity. Click here to view the case study.

If your business is not taking full advantage of the Cloud, you are missing out on continuously updated internet security, increased productivity, improved accessibility, and a quick and cost-effective way to back up files. Plus, you’re risking falling behind with your competitors. Contact Boost IT at 404-865-1289 or info@boostitco.com to start doing business in the Cloud.

The Difference between Backup, Disaster Recovery, and Business Continuity

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The Difference between Backup, Disaster Recovery, and Business Continuity

If you think “data backup” is synonymous with “disaster recovery” and aren’t sure what “business continuity” means, you’re not alone. Most of the business owners we talk to make the mistake of not knowing the difference and end up paying the price when data is lost, a network goes down or a disaster prevents them from accessing their physical office and the server inside.

First, data backup simply means a copy of your data is replicated to another device or location. Tape drives, offsite backup, online backup, and even USB devices provide data backup. Data backup is obviously important but only the beginning.  How fast you can access that data after a disaster is where disaster recovery becomes relevant.

Disaster recovery is the ability for you to recover all your files, software, and functionality quickly, easily, and without corruption. For example, if your server died, you wouldn’t be able to quickly get back to work if you only had data backup. In order for you to start working again, your server would need to be replaced, all software re-installed, data downloaded and copied, and then the whole system would need to be configured with your settings and preferences. This process could take days or weeks – and that’s if you have all your software licenses and a clean copy of your data.

Then there’s business continuity. This is the ability for your business to continue to operate even after a major disaster. For example, if you run an accounting firm and your building burned to the ground, you’d be out of business if all your files were on the server only. However, if you had a backup of all your PCs and servers in the cloud your employees could continue to work from home or some other location, giving your business continuity.

Knowing the difference between backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity is critical if you value your data. You need all three at some level, but at a minimum, you need to make sure you have the right cloud backup and disaster recovery system for your tolerance for downtime.  The 6 Most Costly IT Mistakes for SMBs tell you how to calculate your actual cost of downtime. Also, know your recovery time objective (RTO) to within an hour or less. If a documented disaster recovery or business continuity plan is needed, a business impact assessment can be done delineating each step to continuing business operations based on events like power and Internet outages, user error, hardware failure, software failure, flood, fire, lightning, theft, etc.  You should review your system and plan annually.