Even if you survive the storm, will your data survive as well?

Other than a little wind and rain, the current threat of a hurricane has passed on by with little disruption to Delaware residents. Storm season is far from over, use the recent event to assess where you are in your technology disaster plan.

Most folks think about insurance policies in the sense that they protect against the loss of physical property, such as your computer system. Have you thought about how to protect your most precious technology property, your data? All those files you have working on, documents, photos, graphics, you really can not afford to lose them.

In our last article we discussed dealing with loss of power. If your power failure should be long term, or even worse, you are forced to evacuate your workspace, you need to protect your data as well as have a way to recover later if needed.

Protecting your valuable data

Remote backup services offer users a system for backing up and storing computer files at a remote location, so they can be safely retrieved later as needed. The services usually involve the installation of a software client that uploads data based on a schedule that you set to a remote server. The data is compressed for faster transfer, and encrypted, which means that your files are protected from anyone else reading them or accessing them during the data transfer process.

As modern technology has advanced, and the price has gone down, services such as remote backup services have become quite affordable for the average home user.

To start your shopping of remote backup services visit the web sites of Carbonite and Mozy. Currently both companies offer remote backup services for home users at prices starting at less than $60 per year. A relatively small price to pay for the peace of mind of knowing all your computer data is stored in a remote location should your workspace be lost due to any catastrophe.

The services mentioned in this article are just a representative sampling of what is available, and by no means imply that these are the best services for your specific use. The intent is for this to be a starting point, and catalyst, to start thinking about your personal technology disaster plan. With the current hurricane season upon us, the time to assess your disaster plan in now. But the time you are given the order to evacuate, you will have no time to worry about implementing any new plan.

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