I don’t know what to say about this, except that Elizabeth had way too much time on her hands and a key to the office supply closet.

This five part series by Rob Cosgrove helps Managed Service Providers and Online Backup consultants design correct backup protocol for their customers. This fourth article discusses backup schedules and shows how to estimate backup times. Other articles in the series cover setting backup strategies, optimizing backup time by identifying data that needs to be backed up online, selecting backup types, and explains how to define backup sets.

This five part series by Rob Cosgrove helps Managed Service Providers and Online Backup consultants design correct backup protocol for their customers. This third article suggests specific files and folders to include and exclude, and explains how to define backup sets. Other articles in the series cover setting backup strategies, optimizing backup time by identifying data that needs to be backed up online, selecting backup types, and defining schedules.

In the old days when people backed up to tape drives a certain strategy had to be used. The most popular was Grandfather/Father/Son tape rotation. This method required 19 to 23 tapes and ensured that there were always backups of the seven most current days, the four most current weeks, the eleven most current months, and the most current year.

Anyone can buy software and start an online backup service. That’s the easy part (as long as you pick the right software – hint: mine.) However, in order to be really successful you have to set yourself apart from those who only have software. This includes all those cheap $5/month services.

Data can be categorized into three tiers: critical (integral to ongoing operations), important (valuable but not mission critical) and archival (required but not typically retrieved).

Time and time again we are asked about budget allocation. Questions like: How much should I spend? How much should I allocate to branding? What are other companies spending? How does my budget compare with my competitors?All are excellent questions. An...