Data Disaster? How To Recover

Data Disaster? How To Recover

There was once a point in history when advertising consisted of radio, newspaper, and billboard ads. This time, however, quickly came to an end with the invention of computers and the World Wide Web. Nowadays, a company without an online presence and online storage capabilities is basically working in an ancient world relative to its competitors.

Unfortunately, even the most advanced technology can fail, and in the modern world, a data disaster can lose a company thousands of dollars in a matter of minutes. This is why it’s so essential for a business owner or organizational leader to understand the dangers of data loss.

Potential Data Disasters

There is an abundance of disasters that can lead to data loss, and this loss can result in anything from having to regather data to completely starting over due to not having backup files. One of the most common incidents that lead to data loss is accidental deletion. Not many people want to own up to this, but it definitely happens. Human error, however, isn’t the only potential issue.

• Malware and Viruses: Malicious software can easily lead to data loss. This can either be through a direct deletion of files or through causing damaging hard drive crashes. This makes having up-to-date virus software essential.
• Physical Damage: Damage to a hard drive can also cause data loss. This damage can be due to simple mishandling of a device or even natural disasters that completely destroy servers.
• Loss of Power: It’s astounding how quickly losing power can lead to data deletion. This results in the loss of any file that was unsaved, but it can also cause the corruption of files.

Preventing Data Disasters

Thankfully, there are a variety of ways to prevent data disasters. Obviously, it’s not possible to prevent certain things, like natural disasters, which cause data disasters; but it is possible to have a plan in place to prevent data loss. Website failover services, for instance, can prevent loss by redirecting a domain name system (DNS) to another server if something goes awry with the primary server. This can ensure that data is available, accessible, and still in existence 24 hours a day.

Additionally, a DR on-demand service will actually replicate information that’s hosted on virtual servers. This replication is image-based and dependent on offline servers that are only activated if a data disaster occurs. Similarly, DR high availability services continuously replicate information on both physical and virtual servers to make sure that there’s always an up-to-date copy of all created data available. Luckily, these servers are dispersed geographically, so even large natural disasters won’t usually lead to data loss.

The Recovery Process

Unfortunately, those who forego anti-virus software and the aforementioned services will likely one day experience some form of data disaster. The first step in recovering data is to not perform any “write operations” on a device that has been affected. This prevents new files from overwriting lost files. This means that a device shouldn’t even be shut down and rebooted due to the potential for temporary boot files being created.

After this step, the only thing a person can really do is hire a data recovery company and hope for the best. Sadly, these services can be especially expensive, and there’s not even a guarantee that lost data can be recovered. This is why proactive measures are so essential.

Living in an advanced society doesn’t equate to a lack of potential disasters. Whether natural or man-made, these incidents can wreak havoc on the day-to-day operations of businesses and other organizations. Luckily, data disasters can easily be a mitigated risk, and with the appropriate technology and services, the potential for losing data or information being unavailable to customers can become nearly non-existent.

Nadine Swayne provides this information for all business owners and “regular Joe’s” alike. Try researching online, sites such as http://www.qualitytech.com/, for more knowledge of data loss prevention.