In many cases, users won't notice that a file is missing or damaged until after a few days or even weeks have passed. So it’s important to be able to roll back the state of files or folders several days if needed.

Case in Point with Offsite Data Storage

Our office uses a popular small business accounting program as a mission-critical application. My wife Jennifer, our publisher and business manager, handles most accounting functions on Mondays.

computer consulting free tips for small business computer consultants

One Monday morning, Jennifer was in a temporary panic. As each check was posted, the accounting program choked out a Microsoft Windows Dr. Watson error. First, I tried restoring the data files from the previous day’s backup, the previous Friday. As it turned out, the data already were corrupted by the previous Friday. So we tried rolling the accounting data back to the day before that, Thursday, but still got the same Dr. Watson errors when printing checks.

We finally had to roll back several days earlier to reach the last uncorrupted set of data, the previous Monday. Because the accounting program, at the time, was hardly ever used between Mondays, we didn’t lose any data. But we did learn once again why it’s crucial to have a lot more than three or five days’ worth of full system backups on hand. It was a classic case of the media rotation’s saving the day.

Media Rotation Strategy for Offsite Data Storage

For most small businesses, I recommend purchasing 32 media units (i.e. tapes) to get you through the first year. Yes, this expense can add up, but it’s generally extremely trivial compared to the value of your company’s information that the media is protecting.

Twenty of the media should be allocated to your four-week rotation, as shown in Table 6-2. The remaining 12 media are for permanent monthly archives. Required in many industries and recommended for all, a permanent monthly archive should be created at the same time each month and then immediately labeled, write protected and stored off-site. Be sure also to label each backup media unit clearly with server name, week number and day of week, or month and year.

Sample Weekly and Monthly Media Rotation Plan for Offsite Data Storage

Week A

Mon A

Tue A

Wed A

Thu A

Fri A

Week B

Mon B

Tue B

Wed B

Thu B

Fri B

Week C

Mon C

Tue C

Wed C

Thu C

Fri C

Week D

Mon D

Tue D

Wed D

Thu D

Fri D

Permanent Archive

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Table 6-2

Because data corruption or data loss isn’t always that obvious, I recommend investing in a four-week daily backup media rotation, as well as one year’s worth of permanent archive media.

Off-Site Media Rotation

Now that your media rotation is in place, plan your off-site rotation. This can be as simple as having the company owner, office manager or internal guru take the backup media home daily or once a week. Be sure the off-site location is physically secure and readily accessible. Some companies use a bank safe-deposit box for this. Other businesses with multiple locations send backup media back and forth among locations for off-site storage.

In most cases, rotating media off-site weekly works just fine, unless your company cannot afford to lose a week’s worth of data. There’s nothing particularly high-tech here. But if your office gets flooded, burned down or broken into, it won't do you much good if your backup media were sitting on top of your PC or server.

Many small business owners resist sending backup media off-site, insisting that the media are secure in the company’s fireproof safe. This sounds good in theory, but even a fireproof safe may not protect the data on the media adequately. During a fire, the media superficially will appear to be physically unharmed, but the data on the media, however, can often be damaged beyond recognition.

Offsite Data Storage Action Items

Does your company currently have a daily and weekly media rotation plan in place? If so, what’s the plan?

How many media units or tape cartridges are in your standard backup rotation?

Is media rotated regularly to an off-site data storage location? Where?

Is that off-site location physically secure?

How does the media get to the off-site location? What safeguards are in place while media is in transit?

Who’s responsible for sending the media off-site, verifying that the media has arrived and retrieving the media?

Can backup media be retrieved outside of business hours?

How long does it take for the media to get between the main and off-site data storage locations, and vice versa?

Is the off-site data storage location far enough away from the main location so as to limit the likelihood that both locations would be impacted by the same disaster?

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