Data Backup and Recovery: 7 Questions to Answer

The statistics are gloomy: 50 percent of companies that loose their data for 10 days or more file for bankruptcy within that same time period.

Ninety-three percent file for bankruptcy within one year.

Now that we’ve got your attention, now’s the time to start preparing for disaster, before you become another statistic! The first step is

 1. Who will be responsible for the plan and who will perform the actual recovery of the data? The time for pointing fingers is not when disaster strikes. The person who creates the plan and the person who performs the actual recovery may be the same—or not. Determine who’s responsible for what early in the plan to avoid confusion and misunderstandings.

2. How important is your data? Data varies in importance, helping you determine how and when it should be backed up. For instance, critical data, like a customer database, will likely require a plan that’s more elaborate, with more frequent and redundant backup sets that go back several backup periods. Less important information, such as daily user files, may simply need routine backups so you can recover the information when needed. Sift through your data and identify your most important and least important information.

3. What kind of information does your data contain? Data can contain everything from mundane, everyday information to highly sensitive and mission-critical information. Additionally, information that’s not very important to you might be important to someone else. Identifying the type of information your data contains will help you determine how secure your backup system needs to be, as well as when and how frequently your data should be backed up.

4. How frequently does your data change? The answer to this question determines how frequently you should back up your data. Information that changes daily should be backed up daily. Information that changes every few days should—at the very least—be backed up every few days. And so on.

5. When is the best time to schedule backups? Over the weekend? During the evening hours? In the morning? Backing up data generally takes less time when system use is low. Unfortunately, you may not be able to schedule backups to occur at these times. Carefully consider the best time and day to back up your information, keeping in mind that automated technology makes this easier while minimizing administrative time.

6. How quickly will you need to recover data? Apply the old adage here: time is money. Some businesses may function relatively well for a day or two without access to their systems and data stores. Others may crumble in a matter of hours. If you fall into the latter category and need to get access to critical systems immediately, create a plan that lets you do this. Prioritize which systems you need first, second and so on, and make sure your recovery solution delivers.

7. Should you store backed-up information off-site? The answer for most businesses: yes. This is especially important if you operate in an area prone to natural disasters such as tornadoes or hurricanes. In addition to storing your tapes or disks off-site, make sure you store copies of any software you need to re-establish operations, and that multiple people have the keys or access code for that location.

Avoid saying, “If only …”

No one anticipates a disaster. But we can plan for it. Today’s backup and recovery technology makes protecting your critical business information and systems easier and more affordable than ever. So stop making excuses. Start planning. Information is one of your business’ most important assets. Protect it.

For a free data backup and recovery consultation call 01158 220 200

Demystifying Pay-Per-Click Advertising: Your Top 10 Questions Answered

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is quickly replacing traditional advertising for good reason—it works. But it is right for you? Before you decide, you need to know exactly what is and what it can do. So here are the answers to your top 10 questions.

1. What is it?

PPC advertising, or paid search, is a way to advertise your business on search engines, content sites like blogs, and advertising networks. You, as the advertiser, pay the host only when someone actually clicks on your ad, hence the name.

2. How does it work?

Typically PPC ads are displayed when someone does a search using one of your keywords. These ads are sometimes called sponsored links or sponsored ads and, with Google, usually appear above or to the right of the organic results on the results page.

3. Who sells this kind of advertising?

Almost every search engine provides some form of PPC advertising, but the top three are Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing and MSN. There are also PPC-specific search engines, such as Overture and FindWhat.

4. What are the cost structures?

There are two primary pricing models for PPC advertising: flat-rate and bid-based.

5. What is flat-rate PPC?

With flat-rate PPC:

• You and the publishing site agree on a fixed fee
• You pay the publisher a flat rate each time someone clicks on your ad,
• Prices vary depending on where on the web page/site the ad will be displayed, the value of the site’s content and the value of the keywords.

Content and keywords that attract and drive more visitors usually command a higher PPC but, oftentimes, you can negotiate a lower rate if you’re willing to commit to a long-term or high-value contract.

 6. What is bid-based PPC?

With bid-based PPC:

•  You compete against other advertisers in a private auction hosted by the publisher for certain keywords or phrases related to your product or services
• Prices depend on many factors, including the level of competition and how often it is used in a search
• You inform the publisher of the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for a given ad spot and keyword
• The auction runs automatically and is triggered every time someone uses the keyword in a search
• Winners are determined by all the bid price, the geographical area of the searcher, and the day and time of the search

 Since search engines, such as Google, usually have more than one ad spot, there can be multiple winners. The advertiser with the highest bid will often get the top spot, with the second, third and fourth highest bidders getting the second, third and fourth spots. Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing, and MSN each use a bid-based cost model. 

7. How do you determine the value of PPC advertising?

To help determine the value of either flat-rate or bid-based PPC, consider the potential value of a click from a given publisher, whether it’s a search engine or advertising network.

 Before you settle on a publisher, ask these questions:

• How targeted is the publisher’s audience?
• What type of individuals could you expect to receive as visitors to your web site? Do you want these types of visitors?
• Where are they most likely to live? What could you gain?
• What is the short-term and long-term revenue potential?

 Just as in traditional advertising, targeting a specific audience is critical for success. If you can do this with your PPC advertising, its value is potentially high.

 8. Why should you consider PPC advertising for your business?

Compared to traditional advertising methods, PPC is:

•  Controlled. PPC advertising is relatively simple, gives you a lot of control over your ad campaigns, and lets you reach a targeted audience very quickly.  
• Trackable. With analytics, each campaign can be tracked and measured so you’ll know exactly which ones are working and which are not. Then you can make adjustments to improve performance.
• Effective. Most importantly, PPC advertising can help you generate leads. The best campaigns drive users to a special landing page where they can sign up for events, download products, or submit contact forms.  

Targeted advertising with clear ROI? It’s easy to see why PPC continues to gain in popularity.

 9. How do you get started?

Planning and research are the keys to an effective PPC campaign:

1.  Make sure you understand who your best prospective customers are, where on the Internet they’re likely to be, and what products, services or solutions they’re looking for.
2. Research the keywords your targeted audience is most likely to use in their searches. Try to use two- or three-word phrases when possible. Learning which keywords work best will take time and experience.
3. Take the time to write succinct, persuasive ad copy (the maximum allowed is usually 130 characters) along with a well-written landing page.  Your audience will click through to this page, and if it doesn’t substantiate your offer or solution, your ad may not be allowed.
4. Find the best place to advertise. Consider the audience the publisher attracts, the amount of traffic it gets, and whether any of your competitors advertise there. 

10. Where can I learn more?

To learn more about PPC advertising and specific programs, visit each of the top search engine’s PPC program page:

•  Google: www.adwords.google.com
• Yahoo Search Marketing: www.searchmarketing.yahoo.com/overture.php
• MSN Adcenter: www.adcenter.microsoft.com

For guidelines, standards and research, you can also visit the Internet Advertising Bureau at www.iab.net.

Pay-Per-Click advertising may be the perfect complement to your other online marketing efforts. Before you take the plunge, do some research. Find out what your competitors are doing. Talk to search engine optimization specialists. And maybe experiment with a short, simple campaign. The results could pleasantly surprise you.

If you are interested in SEO Optimisation, Local Search Advertising and Pay Per Click contact us on 0115 8 220 200

How to Combat Email Overload 

Organizations contend with a staggering volume of email. 

This year, worldwide email traffic will amount to 247 billion messages per day, according to the Radicati Group. The total worldwide volume of email traffic will reach 507 billion messages per day by 2013, according to the market researcher. [Link to: http://www.radicati.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/email-statistics-report-2009-pr.pdf]

 Small businesses rely on email for a range of activities. Preserving important transactions and documents — quotes, contracts, and customer correspondence to name a few — embedded in that mass of email is a growing concern for companies of all sizes.

 That’s where email archiving comes in. This solution stores and indexes email so administrators can search for individual messages. The archiving solution integrates with an organization’s email server. 

Benefits

The presence of a central email store provides a backstop when messages go missing. IT administrators, or a designated user, can locate and retrieve email when users inadvertently delete messages from their inboxes. But there’s another key benefit: the ability to preserve email to meet regulatory requirements or discovery requests during litigation.

Recent state and federal laws highlight the need for records retention. For example, Sarbanes-Oxley, which applies to public companies and accounting firms, calls for the retention of relevant financial documents including those in electronic format. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), regulations governing civil law suits, also put companies on retention alert.

Amendments to FRCP, make “electronically stored information” subject to the discovery process.  The amendments apply to federal courts, but a number of states are including e-discovery language in their rules of civil procedure. DiscoveryResource.org provides a summary. [Link to: http://www.discoveryresources.org/library/case-law-and-rules/state-rules/annotated-list-of-state-rules-of-civil-procedure/]

Implementation Approaches

Small businesses taking the email archiving route have a couple of options. They can purchase software, for one. Ferris Research portrays a large and growing market for packaged archiving software. The company expects the sector to reach $650 million in revenue this year and estimates that the market will expand at about a 20 percent annual clip through 2012. [Link to: http://www.ferris.com/]

In some solutions, the archiving software ships pre-installed in a specialty hardware device. Such products are termed appliances.

Small businesses should also consider the expected arrival later this year of Microsoft Exchange 2010. The email server includes a personal archiving feature [Link to: http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/2010/en/us/Archiving-and-retention.aspx], which some customers may find sufficient for their email retention chores. Small businesses looking for elaborate e-discovery features, however, may still prefer a third-party product. In addition, some third-party solutions archive files — word processing documents and PDFs, for example — as well as email, an all-in-one approach that small businesses may find attractive.

Finally, a hosted email archiving solution offers an alternative for customers who would rather not run an in-house system. In this case, the small business transfers email to a service provider through a virtual private network link. The service provider then stores the incoming email on its archiving server.

The choice for a small business boils down to the level of control they want to have over the archiving solution. The buyer must also determine whether the upfront licensing costs of an in-house solution or the ongoing monthly fees of a hosted solution makes more economic sense.

For further research, the 4sysops Windows systems administration blog keeps a list of email archiving software providers [Link to: http://4sysops.com/archives/email-archiving-software-the-complete-list/]. CMS Watch, which evaluates content-oriented technologies, offers a listing of what the company views as significant software and software-as-a-service players http://www.cmswatch.com/Email/Vendors/

If you are wish to discuss any of the technologies higlighted, please contact us on 01158 220 200

Your IT Department has launced new all inclusive IT support

Server support starting from £99.99 +VAT per month.  Aswell as providing a professional and proactive IT support service, our prices include Business Broadband, Web Hosting, AV and Spam Filtering plus much more.

see more info @ http://your-itdepartment.co.uk/index.php/managed-it-support-offer/

The Windows 7 OS provides many new tools and features that focus on improved productivity through improved usability.  This new OS has been constructed to be more intuitive and less distracting (no more annoying and unnecessary pop-ups notifying the user that there is a notification for the user). 

 Users that upgrade to Windows 7 will benefit from increased productivity while enjoying the following resources:

Decreased boot time- the average windows 7 machine will boot will boot up in under 60 seconds.  With the decreased boot time, users will no longer have time to run across the street for a mocha while their system starts up.  Instead, users can get to work as soon as they sit down.
Compatibility- The flexibility of Windows 7 gives users the ability to run almost any software that is Windows compatible.  Windows 7 will work with more accessories and programs than its predecessors, Windows Vista and Windows XP.  Microsoft has designed this OS to automatically run any program that was designed for Vista, and it will also be able to run most XP applications in an XP compatibility window.

Libraries- Windows 7 provides a new, more intuitive way of organizing and locating documents.  Instead of wasting time trying to remember where a previously created document is stored, a user can now search for their documents by type in different “libraries” such as communications, contacts, documents, downloads, music, pictures and videos.  Not only will a user see a shortcut for the document they need, they will also gain immediate access to specific data that is pertinent for each type of library.  For example: when the “contacts” library is opened, it will show phone numbers and e-mail addresses and when the “downloads” library is opened, it will list the URL source for each download. The libraries are customizable, allowing users to create personalized folders that will keep project documents and files accessible.

Jump Lists- This updated menu is a timesaving tool that allows a user to preview open applications and folders.  When the mouse is moved over the taskbar, a popup menu appears and lists all open windows.  Right clicking will provide a brief history of recent changes and other useful information.

Windows Search- This enhanced search feature resembles the “auto-complete” function that is a familiar tool in Microsoft Word.  The moment a user starts to type a word in the search field, Windows 7 will list items that match the typed characters.  The list will decrease as characters are added.  At any point, a user can preview the search results—without having to open the document.

RAID 5 is one of the most primarily used implementations of RAID. This array provides data striping at byte level with distributed or interleave parity. Due to availability of stripe error correction information, RAID 5 is a high performance and fault-tolerant system. But a RAID 5 array might break down. It might occur due to failure of one or more disks. To restore lost data in such cases, you should consult Data Recovery Service experts.

Data Loss in RAID 5

RAID 5 array is not lost upon single hard drive failure. While it occurs, you can calculate any consequent reads from the distributed parity. This is possible if the disk failure is masked from the user. Data from RAID 5 array is lost when the second drive fails. The array remains vulnerable to further loss until you replace the drive and rebuilt the data thus lost.

A RAID 5 array loses data if the data and parity information become unsynchronized due to system failure. This particularly occurs because the system fails to determine the status of write at the time disk failure took place.

Since RAID 5 supports holding parity information, single disk failure results no loss of data. If an extra disk is available, data reconstruction will begin immediately after failure. However, loss of two hard drives at the same time results into complete data loss.

RAID 5 Recovery

RAID 5 Recovery is quite complex because parity is distributed across the drives. Also, different RAID cards and software use different algorithms to generate parity stripes. Parity blocks are created using different sizes of blocks of data, which are then spread across the entire array. The parity disk thus obtained rotates based on a particular algorithm. The procedures involved in Data Recovery Service for RAID 5 is inclusive of various complexities like finding the offset, if any and finding the stripe size.

Your IT Dept.  is available for all levels of RAID, be it of any complexity. There are different reputed data recovery companies that provide this service. Such companies have advanced tools, high-end techniques, Clean Rooms facility and experts who have years of experience in dealing with failed RAID arrays.

If you have lost data and need to recover it, contact 01158 220 200

An IT expert has claimed that internal IT support departments are “ineffective” and too expensive.

IT Computer Support of New York said companies could benefit from outsourcing their IT services to another provider as they would have access to professionals who are experts in computer support.

According to the technology specialist, doing so could also lower firms’ IT management expenses.

“Companies have cut their IT costs, improved their IT performance and gained competitive advantage through wise selection and use of technology by outsourcingIT support to specialists,” the company continued.

It explained that expenses associated with internal IT departments, such as taxes and benefits, workspace, training and equipment, could be cut by using an external provider.

The National Federation of Independent Business says that although the strategy of outsourcing IT departments may result in cost-savings, it can mean that the IT team no longer has intimate knowledge of an organisation.

Valuation Office Agency, which runs a database holding details of 800,000 homes, has not met “minimum standards” for security.

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