When backing up your data, you should be thoughtful about a few details. First off, always make sure the data is stored in at least 2 locations. Secondly, always get the most data on the most reliable and inexpensive device.
At Noir Worldwide we have a few procedures we use to keep us up and running. All of our data is on a server with RAID level 5. RAID 5 is designed to restore the data upon the failure of a drive. So, for example, consider a situation where you had 4 hard drives in your RAID system and one failed. What do you do? With RAID 5, you could replace the disk that has failed and the information will be rebuilt. This is helpful, but you would still lose a day while the data is rebuilt. The philosophy we developed from experience enables us to stay up and running in case of a hardware failure of this magnitude. We make this possible with redundancy.
Here is how it works: All of our workstations have a similar, but smaller RAID on them, [smaller than what? The system on the main server? Say what the system is smaller than] with the jobs we are working on. This way, if a server or a workstation fails, we can keep working while it is repaired. At the end of the day, we are quadruple redundant. Every job and project we are working on is on our server and three workstations simultaneously. A few years ago, we had to deal with an unforeseen event that ruined my well-thought-out system--a fire. Prior to having that fire, I would have stopped at this point in developing our security system. Needless to say, if you have a server and 3 workstations and they all burn in a fire, you will be without data and unable to work.
After the fire I wanted to make sure we had an off-site data backup solution. For the first year, we used the online backup system Carbonite. This was a viable solution (other than the fact that it took a month for the initial backup). Unfortunately, Carbonite and other such solutions have removed the “Unlimited” data option. As we have about 6 Terabytes of data on our server, we needed a less expensive solution.
We started by getting a hard drive dock that can easily be hooked up to any computer. They normally have a large variety of connections available. Typically, connections include USB 2 and 3, eSata, Firewire, and the new Thunderbolt. The faster the better if you have large amounts of data to deal with and move. We backed up the data that stays on the server onto inexpensive sata hard drives. Then, we began a daily procedure in which those drives were moved to one of our homes in case of fire. As we finish projects, we always back them up onto a hard drive. So we have both a work copy and a home copy of all the projects we have ever worked on.
The specific projects we are working on from day-to-day range in size from 10 gigabytes to 200 gigabytes. We all have small USB3 1 Terabyte drives. At the end of every day, we sync these drives to our server for all our current projects. This way, if a client needs something over the weekend or at night, we can access it remotely. This also covers us in case of a catastrophic event (such as a fire), and even after such an event, we could continue to work from home. Just remember: It's always much better to be safe than sorry and unable to serve your clients!
