March 31st is World Backup Day. In celebration, here are some tips to get your backup system in place.
First, consider all of the data that is on your computer and what would happen to your business if all of it was suddenly gone. How long would it take to reconstruct the data? Would it be even possible to reconstruct the data? You can’t reconstruct email if it wasn’t backed up.
How about orders, invoices, customer data? Accounting data? If it’s not printed on paper the data is probably gone forever and in the case of fire or flood, the printed files may be gone also.
Here are your three main considerations when creating a backup plan:
- How often it needs to be backed up
- How much data needs to be backed up (in MB or GB)
- Where to back up your data
Backing up your data is the most important and most often neglected aspect of running a small business. How often you back up your data depends on how much data you can afford to lose. It can be done continuously, daily, weekly or monthly. Consider the nature of your business and how much new data is being entered to determine the frequency of your back-ups.
I back up my data daily.
Data can be lost due to a hard drive failure, data corruption due to a virus or worm, or theft or destruction of the computer. Because of the latter possibilities, your data also needs to be backed up “off site”. Backing up data from one hard drive to another in the same computer or on the same network will prevent data loss from a hard drive failure or virus, but not from theft, fire or flood. Continue reading .
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Not ready to move your whole small business into the cloud? Well, neither am I.
But, I find myself starting to use little, cloud-based applications that make conducting business easier instead of harder.
For example, I’m testing out a new password manager called LastPass. Instead of keeping all my passwords in a desktop solution that requires me to copy and paste them into my browser, LastPass keeps an encrypted password manager in the cloud. You can access it from any browser on any computer for free and they have a premium service that includes smartphones.
Plus, they just recently acquired Xmarks which does the same thing for bookmarks, synchronizing them across browsers, computers and (again, for a small price) smartphones.
I’m already using Amazon S3 to stream video and I’m exploring Google Apps.
For those of you with limited personal or business data you should explore using the web for offsite backups.
For years I’ve had everything on one desktop computer that I control. Now, as things are starting to get spread out over different browsers and computers I am finding it easier to use the web to synchronize my data.
So, while you don’t have to dive right in, it’s worth sticking your to into the water and see what cloud can do for your business..
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A client recently bought a computer off the shelf loaded with a Windows 7 64 bit OS. Why? That’s just the way it came. Later he asked us if that was the right decision.
We are in a transition period from 32 bit to 64 bit systems. As with any transition there are disadvantages for the early adopters of the newer technology. First came 64 bit processors, then 64 bit operating systems, then other 64 bit software to take advantage of the new processors.
The main disadvantage of 32 bit systems is the limitation on RAM. 32 bit computers are limited to using 4 GB of physical RAM with 3 to 3.4 GB available to you, the user. It sounds like a lot of RAM, and it is, unless you are working with large files as in video editing or major scientific work. But hell, watching a DVD on your computer can have a 4 GB file.
The advantage of 32 bit is that it’s accepted technology – everything works. Continue reading .
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How do I download YouTube videos? That’s a question we get quite often, so I created a quick video tutorial showing how to download YouTube videos.
There are two steps: downloading the video and downloading a player onto your computer that can watch the videos, which are Flash videos with an.flv file extension.
Related links:
Firefox web browser
NetVideoHunter addon
VideoLAN player (most audio and video files)
Wimpy Player (.flv and .swf)
If you don’t want to use a Firefox addon there’s a video download toolbar that works in both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Just follow the directions on the page, but it only works on .flv files, not other types of video..
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PDF files usually seem harmless. People don’t think twice about opening a PDF, even if it’s an email attachment, or reading one online.
Adobe has acknowledged a vulnerability in its Adobe Reader/Acrobat that allows hackers to hijack data from compromised computers. They are investigating the problem but haven’t come up with a patch yet.
You have two options: disable Javascript in Adobe Reader or use an alternate reader. The video below shows you how to do either option…
The alternate readers described in the video are:
Further reading:
Adobe confirms PDF zero-day attacks.
How to mitigate Adobe PDF malware attacks
[Author's Note 1/18/2010] Adobe released a fix for Adobe Reader/Acrobat Jan 15th. If your software hasn’t automatically updated then go here for directions on how to update..
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Google Chrome OS is not right for everyone, nor is it right for every computer. What Chrome OS does is put the “net” in netbooks.
These are small, lightweight computers (I wouldn’t even call them laptops) for use on the road or for quick access to the Internet. The operating system is really an advanced web browser.
The advantages are faster boot and load times and less computer power (read battery power) to operate.
The disadvantage is everything is done on the web. No programs or files are stored on the computer.
Now, a cynical person might think that Google is leading everyone into cloud computing, especially Google Apps. But the trend is probably headed in that direction anyway.
Google Chrome OS is set to release an early ‘bare-bones’ version of the OS. I don’t recommend getting in too early. They will be continually updating the OS until it has reasonable functionality over the next year.
But, for planning purposes, small businesses need to see whether they can integrated it into their IT structure.
If your business uses Microsoft Office or other computer based software to do most or your work (Outlook sharing, Word documents, etc.) then you may want to stay with something like Windows 7 Starter edition to integrate with the other office applications.
If your business is moving into the cloud for most of its applications then Google Chrome OS may be worth a look for your road warriors.
Further Reading:
Google’s Chrome OS: Will you give up desktop apps?
Chrome OS will give Microsoft a run for their money
Is imminent Chrome OS launch reckless?
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