Successful Business Disaster Recovery

By John C Karstrom

In order to develop a successful disaster recovery plan, a company must consider a lot of different things. Sometimes, these are called disaster recovery plans, because when the computing system of a company crashes, it can often be disastrous to the company in that data is lost, processes are corrupted, and jobs can be lost.

A good plan is written out in a way that even the non-technical people in the company can understand the proper procedure should a disaster occur. The plan should also reside in a place like a public folder or employee handbook so that it is easily accessible at all times. Since systems, personnel, and other things in a company can change so frequently, it is important to keep the disaster recovery plan is updated every time there is a change within the company. This can sound tedious, but what good is a business disaster recovery plan if it is not up to date?

A hot or cold site needs to be designated for business proceedings to resume should the facility where the corporation is housed becomes damaged. A hot site is ready for the company to resume business as (almost) usual. A cold site is a place for people to gather and go over the plan to decide on a recovery plan of action, but is not equipped to handle the day-to-day business. In a company that has multiple locations, often the hot site of one piece of the building will actually be in another location or building that belongs to the business. If this is not an option, the hot or cold site might reside at a third part IT provider's business location, or someplace else. There is also the option of a warm site, which will not have all the business capabilities of a hot site, but will have some.

The most important part of a business continuity plan is data backup. Data backups need to happen very frequently, so that data can be recovered should a system crash occur. Systems should be protected from threats via firewalls and other methods, but data should be protected via backup should a damaging or altering incident occur.

One good way to make sure your data is safe is to store your data and system backups at an offsite location. Third party companies can be useful and helpful for this, but you will need to verify that their systems and methods are secure, and that the company is ethical.

Testing the disaster recovery plan is also important. A drill should be performed every once in a while to determine that the plan is without holes and to make sure that employees understand the drill, should a disaster happen for real.

To make sure this is all planned and executed properly, someone needs to be in charge of the disaster recovery plan. Sometimes an entire department is devoted to this initiative, and other times a committee is in charge. Even still, some companies outsource this complicated and important piece of the business to make sure it is managed properly.

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What do you do if your RAID server fails?

By Leland Poliks

RAID server failure is one of the dreaded work hazards you may have to face sometimes at your workplace. You tend to become incapable and powerless when you are unable to access data with a click.
Data on a RAID array or volume can becomes inaccessible due to any of the following reasons:

* A faulty RAID controller
* Multiple hard drive crash
* Malfunctioning upgrade or faulty striping

* Defects with the MFT mount points.
* RAID controller failure or configuration changed

* Adding incompatible hard drives
* Hardware conflicts
* Software corruption
* Virus infection, software and operating system upgrades
In these above conditions, the following steps should be taken immediately to increase chances of getting critical files back:
* Shutdown the server and turn off the system. Do not try to reboot again. This may cause serious damage to your hard drive.

* Do not attempt to recover data by yourself, friends or PC repair shops. This may result in permanent loss.

* Do not continue to attempt a forced rebuild if you have already replaced a failed drive and tried to rebuild the array, but still can't access your data. This may wipe out your data. RAID data recovery utilities and software are not designed to restore data or rebuild RAID arrays from failing hard drives. This requires specialized equipment and professional training.

* Swapping hard drives or re-ordering drives in a multiple drive RAID array may cause overwriting the striping and parity. This makes it nearly difficult to reconstruct your RAID array and salvage your company's vital data.
* Seeking professional help from professionally trained data recovery engineers is the sanest solution. Most data can be recovered from crashed hard drives and malfunctioning RAID servers by these experts only.
What do Professional data recovery engineers do?
Professional data recovery engineers have specialized equipment, a thorough knowledge of hex, drive structures, MFT mount points and offsets.
The Professional engineers' initial diagnosis determines whether each media device is accessible to their lab equipment. From all the data accessible to them from each media, they make a raw image onto a new media to help them analyse and assess the data loss. If some of the media is difficult to get hold of, they will test the components and closely check its internal condition to assess the level of physical damage sustained. The damaged components include electronics, read/write heads, magnets, drive motors and head assemblies.
The raw images of the entire server's media are used for logical recovery by examining the low-level data sectors. Determination of both the exact layout of volumes, which span or are striped across multiple drives, is a must. Necessary fixes to the file system structures are to be decided upon to get access to important data.
Servers that work on multiple drives are usually "destriped" onto a different media so that file system repairs can be done and the data files retrieved. It may be necessary to extract data directly from one or more fragments of the destriped image.
Professional programmers in this field have created a full set of software tools used by data recovery engineers to analyse, destripe, fix & recover data from raw images drives to virtually all operating systems. The Validity of information is checked once a recovery has been successfully performed, and file lists created.
A file recovery list is produced when your data is recovered. You can verify that your critical files are recoverable. The process usually takes 3-5 days though emergency data recovery services are also available.

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The Growing Trend And Appeal Of IT Outsourcing

By Gnifrus Urquart

Businesses today are actually incredibly dependent upon their virtual infrastructure and IT systems to remain competitive and one step ahead of the game at all times. Truly, as businesses grow more advanced and heavily dependent upon what IT systems are able to do for them in regard to daily operations, there is often an increased appeal behind being able to fully provide a more sound environment for this to occur. Thus, one should seriously consider the common advantages of IT outsourcing for all of their virtual needs.

Any IT firm is truly filled with an incredible knowledge base and professional pool of experts at your service. This ensures that if anything goes wrong within any facet of the IT environment a business operates within, the problem is able to be handled and resolved at all times. Thus, this is definitely a very appealing and systematic approach to daily operations.

Fortunately, most IT firms hire multilingual professionals that are able to keep up and provide services for all parts of the globe. This is especially important for those organizations that are globally connected and competitive. This allows for any sized company on the global stage to remain effectively covered with IT solutions at all times.

The ability to focus on the actual business model is one that is offered from IT Outsourcing. Basically, this is something which allows for an incredible level of enhanced focus and efficiencies offered within any level of business acumen. There is no need to focus on other things other than the success of the overall business.

IT firms that are outsourced to are also able to provide enhanced security features to those that need them on a regular basis. Naturally, this is an incredibly important feature as IT theft and hacking is a growing trend and problem for businesses around the world. Thus, allow your business to be safe from this issue at all times for a more smooth operation base.

There are also cost saving advantages to using this service. Quite often, there are affordable monthly service fees associated with outsourcing . These are often much cheaper than constant upgrades and security features that are purchased in order to keep a safe IT system operating at all times.

Employee payroll and befits costs are also reduced with IT outsourcing. IT departments are very expensive in that these professionals are at the top tier of pay in the professional world. Thus, there is an overall payroll savings in the process.

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Understand Your Computer And Enjoy It More

By Willie Green

Have you ever wondered what the names are of the devices connected to, and in, your computer? Don't feel ashamed if you do, because so many people in the world do not own a computer or own one but still refer to the mouse as "that thingamabob next to my keyboard" or actually look for an "any" key. So fret no more, here is more information on your computer's vital components, what they are and how they work.

A computer would not be able to function without one or more of the parts below. Most of the time, your computer would need a keyboard, mouse, Monitor, printer and the tower or case itself.

Defining The Monitor The monitor is the component that resembles your television screen. There are many types of monitors that our available to consumers. The longest-running type would be the CRT monitor, which is, in many ways, just like your television monitor. However, one particular variety of monitor is a bigger hit with consumers nowadays - it's the LCD monitor. LCD monitors boast of a better picture quality and smaller overall size.

Defining The Keyboard The keyboard is one of the most basic input devices. You would need this to type as you'll see all the letters, numbers and symbols you need, and maybe a few other extra characters.

Your Mouse This is the other most basic input device. It looks like a mouse in some ways, and is connected at the back of your computer (or at the side), allowing you to move the arrow pointer and click on links or icons.

Computer. As its name may imply, you cannot have a computer without a computer. This is where technology works its wonders for you. The computer case or tower basically contains all the cool and crazy contraptions that allow you to work, play games or surf the 'net on it - these include a hard drive, RAM, motherboard, graphics card and others.

Your Printer Finally, this device would allow you to create actual hard copies of what you see on the monitor. You can choose laser or ink jet printer, among other varieties. Some printers also come with built in scanners (to digitize paper documents), fax machines, and photocopiers.

This is just some basic information that has, hopefully, helped you better understand your computer. You may think that most people should already know this but you might be surprised at how many do not.

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Computer Backup Plans For Business and Home Users

By Jason Radtke

The topic of computer backups has long been a subject of signification when it comes to preserving the information on your computer. These days there are way more options open to you in this arena, which can often be both a help and a barrier. On one hand, having more options is useful because better solutions have been brought to the market from which you now have the ability to choose to fit your wishes. A deterrent exists in the sense that the profusion of selections might scare off users and cause them to ignore the problem altogether, which can have a catastrophic ending. Selecting a consultant for Atlanta IT support can help in judging your options.

It does not have to be complicated nor time intensive, so there is no sound reason not to take on backing up your personal computer.

The Philosophy

Everyone knows that backing up can preserve the information that's stored on your computer, but how far do you take your backup philosophy? It relies on what you can 'afford' to lose.

To one computer user, just backing up occasionally will serve. The concept here is if you lose your info, you can restore it apart from your operating system, and the time this takes isn't a critical consideration. Many home users fall into this class. It is sensible so long as you are not dependent upon your computer for time-sensitive applications and tasks and/or for accessing and retrieving information relative to finances, and so on.

To another user this philosophy isn't enough. Those who depend on their data and PC for over just casual private computing understand that if a hard drive fails, their business is down until they can get it back up and running again. Home users who store indispensable photos and home video on their computers will also fall into this class. A better secondary plan is suggested to help get over tragedies in an expedient fashion.

Computer Backup Options

There are many ways to tackle backups of your vital data:

Inbuilt operating system options. Microsoft Windows operating systems provide built in back up capacities that lets you back up your documents or files onto external media. Beginning with Windows XP and its Mechanical System Recovery feature, each successive Microsoft desktop O. S encompasses the capability to help recover your entire drive if necessary. These backup solutions are trusty and supply an inbuilt way for you to back up your information while not having to buy an extra programme to do so.

Manual duplicating onto external devices. You can always resort to the old stand-by technique of backing up by manually copying your data onto an external disc drive, USB memory stick or other external device such as a recordable CD, DVD or even a floppy drive if you have one. This is cumbersome, but if you do not have a lot of files, it could be a satisfactory solution for you. The pitfalls with this technique are that if you have multiple files, you have to ensure you get each one of them, and you may need numerous target media to save all of your files to.

Online options for backing up over the Net. The most recent option in computer data backup solutions is supplied by online corporations that enable backup and restoration of your documents and files over an encrypted high-speed Web connection to any Personal computer. A little background application backs up and transfers your files to a hosted storage area in a remote datacenter when your personal computer is idle; nevertheless this isn't an all-embracing accident recovery solution for your complete hard drive. This solution works best when focused at protecting individual files and documents on a PC or a Mac, and is in general a subscription-based service for which you pay a once per month charge to be used.

Making an image of your drive. This is a more exhaustive backup and accident recovery solution sometimes performed by technically savvy computer users. This option includes using 3rd-party programs to make a picture of your entire hard drive, which can then be "re-imaged" in case of catastrophic neglecting to a new hard drive, providing a tough drive catastrophe recovery plan. Using this solution, inside a short period of time, you may be back active with All your documents, settings, programs and EVERYTHING intact, as if the disaster never occurred.

The way to determine the best answer to fit your wishes is to ask yourself how quickly you must be back successfully running after confronting a. Disaster, and how much you are ready to pay. If you can wait a couple of days, then a PC back up programme could be suitable for you. If you want your information files immediately, and you've got a 2nd computer that you can copy them to, then a web solution could be the simplest way to go. Or finally, if your business relies upon your personal computer and its applications and information, then you've got to have a better solution.

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Deleting Browsing Cache Without Software - Helpful Tips You Need To Know

By Quinn Harris

If you are like most people, surfing the Internet on a shared computer is what you usually do. You might already be aware, but if you're not: Everywhere that you go your computer is keeping record of; leaving your finger tips all over the place for others to find.

Even without buying any software that a lot of people advertise, there are a few quick and easy things that you can do to remove these traces.

Your Internet browser under normal settings is always storing your browsing history, cached files of pages, and saved form information. You can get busted for your past browsing habits thanks to these three places. They can become a nuisance when you don't want other people to know where you are even though these things are all meant to make your browsing experience more convenient and quicker.

An actual stored copy of a web page that sits on your local computer is called cache and the purpose of this is for your browser to load it rather than always downloading pages from the Internet.

The browser's way of tracking where you have been both in the address is history and this will help make future URL input faster and also help you retrace and find the pages that you have visited recently.

To help speed it up the next time that you use a form, a saved form information is a very handy tool that will allow the browser to remember what you entered into forms.

Removing Traces from Internet explorer Open Internet Explorer1. 2. Go to "Tools" - "Internet Options" in the Menu Bar 3. Next, select "delete files" d) In the pop-ip, "delete all offline content is what you should select e) Next, select "clear history" 6. Select the "content tab" at the top g) Next, select "AutoComplete h) You might want to turn it off altogether when you select "clear forms" Your done. Internet Explorer is clean!

How to Remove Traces from Firefox a) Open Mozilla Firefox 2. Go to "tools" and select "options" in the Menu Bar c) On the left hand side, select "privacy." 4. Clear "History" Clear "Saved Form Information" Clear "Download Manager History" g) Clear "cache"

Clearing your cookies is another thing you might want to do but remember that most of the time, there are useful information like logins that are stored in here. At your own Risk! That's all there is to it.

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Compact Flash Memory and Data Recovery

By Leland Poliks

Flash memory gets its name due to its microchip arrangement in such a way, that its section of memory cells gets erased in a single action or "Flash".
Both NOR and NAND Flash memory were invented by Dr. Fujio Masuoka from Toshiba in 1984.The name 'Flash' was suggested because the erasure process of the memory contents reminds a flash of a camera, and it's name was coined to express how much faster it could be erased "in a flash". Dr. Masuoka presented the invention at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) held in San Jose, California in 1984 and Intel recognizes the potentiality of the invention and introduced the first commercial NOR type flash chip in 1988, with long erase and write times.

Flash memory is a form of non-volatile memory that can be electrically erased and rewrite, which means that it does not need power to maintain the data stored in the chip. In addition, flash memory offers fast read access times and better shock resistance than hard disks. These characteristics explain the popularity of flash memory for applications such as storage on battery-powered devices.

Flash memory is advance from of EEPROM (Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) that allows multiple memory locations to be erased or written in one programming operation. Unlike an EPROM (Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory) an EEPROM can be programmed and erased multiple times electrically. Normal EEPROM only allows one location at a time to be erased or written, meaning that flash can operate at higher effective speeds when the systems using; it read and write to different locations at the same time.

Referring to the type of logic gate used in each storage cell, Flash memory is built in two varieties and named as, NOR flash and NAND flash.
Flash memory stores one bit of information in an array of transistors, called "cells", however recent flash memory devices referred as multi-level cell devices, can store more than 1 bit per cell depending on amount of electrons placed on the Floating Gate of a cell. NOR flash cell looks similar to semiconductor device like transistors, but it has two gates. First one is the control gate (CG) and the second one is a floating gate (FG) that is shield or insulated all around by an oxide layer. Because the FG is secluded by its shield oxide layer, electrons placed on it get trapped and data is stored within. On the other hand NAND Flash uses tunnel injection for writing and tunnel release for erasing.

NOR flash that was developed by Intel in 1988 with unique feature of long erase and write times and its endurance of erase cycles ranges from 10,000 to 100,000 makes it suitable for storage of program code that needs to be infrequently updated, like in digital camera and PDAs. Though, later cards demand moved towards the cheaper NAND flash; NOR-based flash is hitherto the source of all the removable media.

Followed in 1989 Samsung and Toshiba form NAND flash with higher density, lower cost per bit then NOR Flash with faster erase and write times, but it only allows sequence data access, not random like NOR Flash, which makes NAND Flash suitable for mass storage device such as memory cards. SmartMedia was first NAND-based removable media and numerous others are behind like MMC, Secure Digital, xD-Picture Cards and Memory Stick. Flash memory is frequently used to hold control code such as the basic input/output system (BIOS) in a computer. When BIOS needs to be changed (rewritten), the flash memory can be written to in block rather than byte sizes, making it simple to update.
On the other hand, flash memory is not practical to random access memory (RAM) as RAM needs to be addressable at the byte (not the block) level. Thus, it is used more as a hard drive than as a RAM. Because of this particular uniqueness, it is utilized with specifically-designed file systems which extend writes over the media and deal with the long erase times of NOR flash blocks. JFFS was the first file systems, outdated by JFFS2. Then YAFFS was released in 2003, dealing specifically with NAND flash, and JFFS2 was updated to support NAND flash too. Still, in practice most follows old FAT file system for compatibility purposes.

Although it can be read or write a byte at a time in a random access fashion, limitation of flash memory is, it must be erased a "block" at a time. Starting with a freshly erased block, any byte within that block can be programmed. However, once a byte has been programmed, it cannot be changed again until the entire block is erased. In other words, flash memory (specifically NOR flash) offers random-access read and programming operations, but cannot offer random-access rewrite or erase operations.

This effect is partially offset by some chip firmware or file system drivers by counting the writes and dynamically remapping the blocks in order to spread the write operations between the sectors, or by write verification and remapping to spare sectors in case of write failure.
Due to wear and tear on the insulating oxide layer around the charge storage mechanism, all types of flash memory erode after a certain number of erase functions ranging from 100,000 to 1,000,000, but it can be read an unlimited number of times. Flash Card is easily rewritable memory and overwrites without warning with a high probability of data being overwritten and hence lost.

In spite of all these clear advantages, worse may occur due to system failure, battery failure, accidental erasure, re-format, power surges, faulty electronics and corruption caused by hardware breakdown or software malfunctions; as a result your data could be lost and damaged.

Flash Memory Data Recovery is the process of restoring data from primary storage media when it cannot be accessed normally. Flash memory data recovery is a flash memory file recovery service that restores all corrupted and deleted photographs even if a memory card was re-formatted. This can be due to physical damage or logical damage to the storage device. Data even from damage flash memory can be recovered, and more than 90% of lost data can be restored.

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