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Does anything suck worse than losing a client file?
Losing a file isn't exactly a world wide freaking disaster but it's close. The only thing worse is actually spending the time to copy files so that you have a backup. So boring.
I don't want to lose anything but I don't want to put any effort into preventing it from happening. The answer :automate your backup system.
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Online backups are programs that automatically copy and store designated files from your computer to a remote location. Most important for the lazy designer, once set up they will run every night with no further effort from you. Typically on a 30 day rotation, each day your files are overwritten with the newer version (if there is one) and left alone if there is not. If you loose or corrupt a file, go online and retrieve a copy. My service is set up to back up my entire business directory and all the files in it. Some popular services are Mozy, Carbonite, and Sugarsync, the cost will be around $50 to$100 per year for 5-10 GB. You might consider this a small step into cloud computing.
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Retrieving information from your project as it was six months ago is going to be difficult because as you redesign, online backups are being overwritten. A separate backup is needed to make Record copies (milestones and weekly/monthly work completed). They are dated and never overwritten so they provide a second level of protection. DVDs are good for project milestones, they are easy to label and store and copy for clients. USB Flash drives are another option and remarkably cheap about $10 to $15 for up to 16 GB of storage. External hard drives are nice because of the greater storage capacity. A terabyte goes for around $125 bringing the cost to $0.10 per GB and the convenience of having it all in one place. Once again I find the easiest method is to copy and date my entire business directory. |
Paper is probably the most reliable backup of all, if properly stored. You lose the intelligence and convenience of the electronic copy but the information remains exactly as it was when laid down. Print at milestones and be sure to include a date, these are the copies that will be required. Weekly backups are going to contain unused versions, but if they are versions they were probably not approved You are far less likely to be accountable for those. And if you name your designs with unique names they will probably be available from your daily backup. Make a big stack of all your projects as you complete them and then ignore it. It will be there when you need it conveniently organized in the “oldest is deepest” system.
Backup systems must be tested just as if you had lost an important file. That means retrieving a file from the storage system, reinstalling it on your computer and opening it using the appropriate program. It should perform exactly as it would have if it hadn't been lost or corrupted. You must test exactly as if you have lost a file and have to start from scratch. |
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Some scary statistics from SRI. 6% of all PCs will suffer an episode of data loss in any given year. 31% of PC users have lost all of their files due to events beyond their control. 60% of companies that lose their data will shut down within 6 months of the disaster. 93% of companies that lost their data center for 10 days or more due to a disaster filed for bankruptcy within one year of the disaster. |
What will be in your hand when you tell your client the files have been lost. Nothing? Or yesterdays backup.
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