I'm looking out my window at the "Storm of '95. As I drove to work this morning, I passed several buildings that were flooded. The one next door had three feet of water inside. I could see the top of a desk showing through the water and a trash can was floating down the hall. What a mess! Last month, I talked about storms, computers and protection from power outages. Unfortunately, a battery back-up alone isn't going to do the folks next door much good at all. In this kind of situation, you're going to need even more protection. The only thing that will save the users of the computer next door is an off-site back-up tape.

I could fill this article (or this entire Update edition) with horror stories about clients that learned the hard way how critical it is to back-up their data. Those are the people who didn't want to spend the time or money to back-up their data every night, only to find that they no longer have any idea who their members are (or what they owe in dues), or that they have to re enter all the work done in the last week. But let's not talk about them, (only experience will teach them anyway). Instead, let's talk about what a it takes to have a sound back-up system.

Have a Back-up System: First and foremost, you must purchase the needed components to do the job. You will need a tape unit, a back-up software program, and a number of tapes. (Note- you can back-up your system on floppy disks - however, this is can be incredibly time- consuming and I recommend against it whenever possible.) When purchasing your back-up unit, make sure it's large enough so that one tape can back-up your entire system (if on a network) or your largest hard drive (if not networked). You can get external units that move from station to station, units for the file server (or central computer), or ones that work from a particular station. The software should be compatible with your hardware and should include an "unattended back- up" capability. This will allow you to conduct back-ups at night when everyone is off the system. This is important because files that are in use do not normally get backed up, or get backed-up improperly..

Perform Full Back-up: When possible, set-up your system to perform a complete back- up every time. Partial or incremental back-ups require extra time to manage and restore. For example, when performing a restore from a partial or incremental back-up, you will need to know exactly what was backed up (and when) in order to find a deleted or missing file. In addition, try to use one tape per back-up. Combining multiple back-ups on a single tape or using two tapes for a single back-up creates more chance for error and lost data. If you are running out of room on a single tape for your back-up, you can set it to back-up the data only. If you do this, you should perform a full system back-up, at least monthly (on as many tapes as are needed). You can re-install programs from this tape set, with the data coming from the most recent tape. One final note, you should always keep your original program diskettes in good condition should your back-up system fail completely.

Rotate and Catalog Your Tapes: Always rotate your tapes so that the proper tape is used each time you back-up. Many systems erase a tape before starting the new back-up. If there is a problem during the back-up it may not copy the existing data properly. If you used last night's tape, the data will likely have been erased. By rotating your tapes, you will always have a recent tape to fall back on if needed. (See the attached table for a suggested rotation plan involving 13 tapes.) In addition, I suggest you catalog the tapes as they are used. Keeping a log of each tape and the date it was used (along with a notation of any problems encountered) serves two purposes. First, it provides a way to easily find a particular back-up tape. Second, it provides an audit trail for a manager to ensure that back-ups are being conducted. Nothing is more frustrating than to find that your money was spent on a system that is not being used.

Verify your back-up tape: Periodically, restore a group of randomly selected files from a randomly selected tape to a local hard drive (be sure not to overwrite any existing, i.e. more current file). This assures you that your system is working properly. It also provides a much needed "refresher course" on how the restore portion of your software system works. In the middle of an emergency is no time to train yourself on your system or to discover that the system is not working properly.

Store your tapes in a safe place: Just as important as performing the back-up is keeping the tapes in a safe location. Remember, data is magnetically stored, so don't put the tape in a metal file cabinet with magnets attached to it. Inside a fire safe can also be a problem. Tape melts long before paper burns; so a fire-proof file cabinet won't help you in a fire (unless the unit specifically states that it is rated for storage of magnetic media).. For even further protection, I suggest you rotate monthly and weekly tapes to an off-site storage location. Find a reliable employee or manager to take tapes to their home. (Remembering not to leave them in a hot car during the summer!) If there's a fire at your office and an employees home at the same time you have bigger problems than saving your data.

Be diligent about performing your back-up: Having all the above equipment and procedures in place and not using them diligently will surely catch you in a compromising position. Jac's Law of Back-ups says the only time your system will crash is right before a big meeting, when you've been too busy to do a back-up for a week. Re-entering all those registrations can be a huge task when you're already under the gun. As a general rule, the busier you are, the more important it is to have a complete back-up.

Well the storm has started to clear. I think I'll wander next door and see how they're doing (now I know how lawyers feel!).

Tape	Description	Day		Next Use		First Use	Re-Use 

A	Nightly 1	Monday		Next Monday		Jan 2		Jan 9
B	Nightly 2	Tuesday		Next Tuesday		Jan 3		Jan 10
C	Nightly 3	Wednesday	Next Wednesday		Jan 4		Jan 11
D	Nightly 4	Thursday	Next Thursday		Jan 5		Jan 12
E	Weekly 1	Friday		1st Fri of Next Month	Jan 6		Feb 3
F	Weekly 2	Friday		2nd Fri of Next Month	Jan 13		Feb 10
G	Weekly 3	Friday		3rd Fri of Next Month	Jan 20		Feb 17
H	Monthly 1	Friday		Last Fri of Odd Months	Jan 27		Mar 31
I	Monthly 2	Friday		Last Fri of Even Months Feb 24		Apr 28
J	Yearly 1	Dec 31		End of Even Years	Dec 31, 1994	Dec 31, 1996
K	Yearly 2	Dec 31		End of Odd Years	Dec 31, 1995	Dec 31, 1997
L	Accounting 1	As needed when performing a close or large posting
M	Accounting 2	As Needed to alternate above

- Jaculin Thompson