Imagine for a moment that you lost every important email, every cleverly crafted document, and every precious image on your device. Websites that you’d carefully bookmarked over many years were gone, and every password stored locally simply disappeared into thin air.

Now imagine that we told you that exact scenario was going to happen – 10 minutes from now. What would you do? Would you frantically try to put everything on a USB stick; salvaging what you could in the time you had? Would you phone a friend and ask how you could stop this dreadful event from happening?

While this scenario may not happen to you now, in 10 minutes, or anytime in the next year, the sheer thought of it probably left you a little short of breath.

The possibility of losing everything is terrifying, and what’s worse is that if it does happen – your hardware malfunctions or a virus takes hold of your operating system – you probably won’t get any warning at all. All that you have could be lost in a heartbeat, never to be seen again.

Luckily, there is a way to plan against this situation and protect yourself and your data.

It’s called “backing up”, and it’s one of the most important activities you can do to safeguard your hard work and prevent against losing everything.

Backing up basically means “making a copy” of all that exists on your local machine (or server). Once a copy is made, it exists forever outside of your device to ensure that it can be easily restored if the worst were to happen.

It’s not expensive to get a backup done. Of course, you could get a USB or external drive and do one yourself. However, there are many good reasons to hire a professional, such as:

• Many of your important files, such as emails, aren’t stored where you think they are so you may miss things you aren’t prepared to lose.
• Sometimes backups can be corrupted if not done properly, meaning they become impossible to restore.
• Depending on the volume and size of your files, you may require more than a standard backup.

Solutions to safely back up your device by Empreus IT

The first is called Veeam, and it allows us to make a secure backup of your entire operating system so that it can be easily restored if the worst were to happen.

The second is called Datto. A Datto solution is the best option for larger businesses that have a lot of data or manage a collection of devices.

As a Datto partner, we can integrate Datto into your technical environment to ensure that it:

• backs up in real time
• preserves your data
• acts as an immediate backup server if your current one failed

If you run a business that cannot afford to live without its data for more than 24 hours, we highly recommend Datto. It gives you peace of mind that you can continue to operate, without losing so much as a single email.

Both Veeam and Datto also protect against Cryptolocker and Ransomware (where hackers take virtual hold over your device or server, and ask you to pay them to release it). If this unnerving situation were to arise, you could confidently ignore their demands, knowing that you could restore your entire machine from your back up.

Don’t get caught out and lose everything you’ve worked so hard to create. Hardware fails. Hackers and viruses attack unsuspecting victims all the time. You MUST protect yourself…and the best way to do it is with an effective back up system.

For help implementing a reliable and secure back up system, please call Empreus IT Support on (02) 6189 1322 or contact us now.