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Viruses, spam and system
crashes are just some of the challenges that online
business owners face on a daily basis. But there is
another challenge that many online entrepreneurs may
overlook. Across the globe, Mother Nature wreaks havoc
with monsoons, tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes.
Would one of these natural disasters create a crisis on
the home front for your e-biz? What would you do? Are you
prepared for the worst?
Recently, a natural
disaster hit my town. Seventy to eighty mile per hour
straightline winds ripped through Cheney Kansas. The
damage left in the wake of the storm was unfathonable. The
town was in shambles. It really got me to thinking about
how it would have effected my business if the storm has
destroyed my home. Since I work from home, the destruction
would have likely taken my business down as well. Looking
over my files on my computer, just my documents folder
alone is 336 megabytes. That's not including my website,
graphics and the other tons of files I have.
I remembered reading an
editorial from an ezine recently that spoke of online back
up services. I decided that an online back up service
would be worth looking into. After all, how would I
recover from a tornado or flood, if it destroyed my home
and business? Computers can be replaced, but what about
the data and files? After a quick search using the
keywords "online backup" and "online
storage" (without the quotes), I had a starting point
for my research.
What I found was a
cornucopia of options, from pricey to quite reasonable in
regards to fees. I chose the companies at random after
careful consideration of features included, security
issues, and amount of storage verses cost. The companies I
chose, in no certain order are as follows:
How does one know exactly
how much storage one needs? Well, that's a good question.
I recommend that if you use your PC on a regular basis,
you probably have between 100 to 500MB of data to protect.
You should only backup files that you can not easily
replace. These files are usually created or named by you.
Do backup documents, financial files and pictures, etc.
Don't backup operating system files or applications. A
good starting point in determining your storage
requirements is your "My Documents" folder. To
do this, right click "My Documents" and select
properties. The size displays on the General tab. Take a
look at other folders or files you want to protect in a
similar manner to determine your storage requirements. You
can always upgrade or downgrade your account.
I would not recommend using
an online service in the direct vicinity in which you
live. If your community is hit by a natural disaster,
chances are, your back up service would be affected also.
Location of your back up service should be a key
consideration in protecting your data and files.
So, are you prepared for a
disaster on the home front? If not, you should be. Take
control of your online business. Don't wait until its too
late to take action.
Lisa Note: It is my most
sincere desire that this article has made you go
hmmm...and answered questions about online services
available that can be utilized to protect an important
investment. Your business.
By Lisa Reddell - Copyright
2004
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About
The Author
Lisa
A. Reddell is a Freelance writer, owner of
Reddell Marketing and publishes the
bi-weekly Ezine, The Left Handed Times.
Lisa has started achieving dreams of
online success & YOU can too! Read the
lastest edition of The Left Handed Times. http://www.ad-alyzer.com/727/artbhfme0708.
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