Due to the protests planned, as well as the very real and printed threat of “We will take part in spontaneous occupations or property destruction.”, any and all businesses in downtown Portland need to perform a full backup of their data today.

Even if you go out and buy a USB hard drive and backup your important data to take home, something is better than nothing.
Justin

Today, we’d like to cover something that happens all over the country, but we’ve seen it happen here in the Portland metro areas as well.

Warranty repairs, are completely normal. When something breaks, you take it into the company you bought it from and they fix it, right? Typically, that’s how things go, but what can actually happen in the case of computers, is that your data disappears when it shows back up in your hands.

Imagine sending your computer into a company to fix a screen that messed up. Not a big deal, by PC repair standards, but something that most companies require that the computer be sent to a service center. While in that service center, many things can happen. The company may decide that something else is wrong and replace it as well, like a recalled hard drive… Or that the computer needed the motherboard replaced which causes windows to no longer work – so they hook that hard drive up to a machine and replace Windows within minutes – along with all your valuable pictures, music, documents, etc. All gone.

This is why it’s so important to use some type of backup. While Protocol16 uses a service we like called Carbonite, any type of backup will do, whether you burn files to a CD or DVD, throw files on a memory stick or an external hard drive or you use some type of automated backup solution (in the Apple world, I personally use Time Machine). If you use your own backup solution, make sure that the data is physically located somewhere else in case something major happens – your backup can’t help if it’s destroyed in the same fire that kills your computer…

Anytime you give your property to anyone else, whether a friend, a repair company, a relative, etc. MAKE A BACKUP of your data. It’s too easy for a Caramel Latte to be spilled on your PC by your friend or family member, it’s too easy for someone to accidentally  drop and it’s too easy for the guy at the repair depot that some big company uses to not care about YOUR data and “accidentally” overwrite it with a fresh install of Windows.

Whoever you choose, be careful and perform a backup. As always, if you have questions, give us a call at 503-524-9047.
Justin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Beaverton, OR —Sep. 8, 2009— Protocol16, a computer company focusing on on-site support, has formed a partnership agreement with Carbonite to provide the latest automated backup solutions to it’s customers.

Protocol16 will providing it’s customers licenses for Carbonite when it’s technicians are on-site and a backup solution is needed. The technicians will configure Carbonite to allow for automatic off-site backups so that customers may retrieve lost files without additional assistance.

“This partnership allows us to cover our customers automatically since backing up a hard drive is one of the most needed, but most missed, parts of owning a computer.” said Justin Royce, owner of Protocol16. “This  will allow our technicians to setup and install the Carbonite backup solution on customer computers at a lower price, providing the best bang for the buck for the customer. Ultimately, we can save our customers around of 10%.”

Protocol16 is currently carrying licenses of Carbonite for customers. Activation codes are emailed directly to the customer, when needed.

About Protocol16
Protocol16 was started in 2007 in response to a growing demand for technical services in the military communities of Germany. Since starting, Protocol16 has relocated to Oregon and launched a website and mobile computer repair business in the Portland Metro region. Headquartered in Beaverton, Protocol16 is quickly becoming a leader in mobile repair for businesses and consumers. Protocol16 maintains that customer satisfaction is the absolute primary goal of the business.

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Protocol16 services both residential and business customers for computer repair and services throughout Portland. One of the biggest things we see, on a normal basis, is that people are not backing up their data.

Why Backup
This may be old news, but the more people hear it, the more likely they are to do it. Backing up data can save your bacon in almost every way. Here are some examples:

• License keys – Backups allow you to retrieve license keys for software that you have installed. How many of you have a hard-copy backup of your license keys? We know we don’t have everything either. Cost can also be attributed here in case you can’t locate licenses for software you have installed – you may need to repurchase software.
   
• Pictures, documents, etc – family or product photos, documents containing works of art (if you’re a writer) or even customer invoices. Losing these can cause both heart ache and heavy losses, on the business side.
   
• Lost productivity – We don’t know about you, but when our computer isn’t working, we pace the room. Computers, these days, are everything. Losing a computer and not having a backup can cause days of lost productivity, even more if you’re a business. Businesses lose the productivity, the cost of the technician to reinstall everything (whether it’s Protocol16 or your own technician), the cost of the worker that is supposed to be using that computer running around everywhere else, etc. If your computer happens to be the billing/invoicing computer, then you can lose past invoices, current billable time, etc. Lots of money…

 

Types of Backups
Did you know there are actually several types of backups? They each do two different things and can help or hurt you, depending on the situation:

• Full – A complete set of all files you wish to back up. Think of this as your ‘reference set’. This helps since you have a full-on backup of your entire data set in one place. This hurts since it can take up a lot of space.
   
• Incremental – A backup of those files which have changed since the last backup of any type. This helps since you can spend less time to backup what has changed. This hurts because it can take more time to restore things, since you need to restore everything in order, it can also make digging for specific files a pain.
   
• Differential – A backup of those files which have changes since the last full backup. Similar to incremental, it picks the files that have changed, but with the express difference that it’s since the last full backup. This can help since it also takes less time to backup everything. This hurts because it can take longer to backup than incremental, can take up a little more space because it’ll backup more redundant type files, etc.

 

Locations
The backup location can make a huge difference as well. What happens if your business gets broken into or your house burns down? Those backups will most likely disappear as well. If you’re storing baby pictures or customer records, this can devistate you or your business. Here are the types of backups:

• On Site – This is where your backups are stored right next to your computer, or in the same building. This helps since they’re right there and you can do things quickly. This hurts in the above situation where your backups can disappear.
   
• Off Site – Your backups are stored at a physically different location. This can be at a neighbors house or even a business owner’s home. This helps since the backups won’t disappear, burn up or get stolen. This hurts since it can take hours, or days, to restore from an alternate location from across the internet. In some cases, your backups can be mailed directly to you as well.

 

Ways To Backup

• Automated – There are a few things out there that can automatically backup your computer for you. There are programs, mobile hard drives (with software added), web services (like Carbonite), and even network automated backups like the Apple Time Capsule and Western Digital’s MyBook. With the automated solutions, you can usually “set and forget”, up until you need something back.
   
• Manual – Manual backups can be a pain, but sometimes they’re needed. Automatic backups, while helpful, can backup a lot of information that doesn’t need to be included. If you’re a professional, a full backup should happen nightly or more often. But, in cases where you’re editing sensitive data (like an Accountant), you should backup the files manually to a different location as well.

 

Protocol16 Recommends
For consistency and easiness of backups, Protocol16 recommends an off Site, automated, differential backup with a local automated full backup solution in place as well. That’s right, Protocol16 recommends having two solutions. This allows you to ensure that, no matter what happens, you’ll always have a backup handy.

The automated local backup should be run at least once a week, for residential customers. For busineses, a minimum of once a day, usually a night. For business customers that rely upon databases and specific records on computers that need to be up to date and live all the time, this may need to change to multiple times a day.

The remote automated backup should be performed at least once a week, in either case. This assures that you have 2 layers of protection in case something happens.

Cost
Cost is an issue, we completely understand that aspect of anyone’s life. Cost for a local backup is usually $100 or less, for residential use. This is typically in the form of an external hard drive. At the moment, Protocol16 is testing backup solutions for customers, we’ll have a recommendation out shortly.

For businesses, this can be anything from a $100 consumer based item to a server that costs several thousand dollars. Please speak with us about solutions for your business. You might be surprised at what we can come up with.