A data center is an outside location that houses equipment and information that is used for your business. This information or equipment can be accessed from a remote location. Many businesses use a data center, especially when customer information must be retrieved. This is especially true with customer service centers. When you call with a question or problem, you may get a different call center each time. However, they are able to pull up the same information every single time. This is because they are pulling that information from a data center. This allows for retrieval of information from all authorized parties at any time, which also results in consistency.

With such access, this may make one wonder how secure a data center really is. All of this information is being transferred to and from using a computer can seem somewhat dangerous, especially since much of the information is very sensitive.

That is why it is important that each data center be equipped with top-of-the-line security features that protect that information:

1. Encryption: Encryption is a code that cannot be cracked. The information is transferred in this encrypted form that only the computer it is going to can decipher. The information that leaves the computer is once again encrypted to be stored in the data center. This is what prevents a lot of the information that is going back and from being stolen by hackers.

2. Password protection: It is important for the password to remain protected. If the password is entered incorrectly, then it is important to have a security feature that locks someone out after three attempts. This prevents someone from intruding and in order to unlock it, they must answer a security question.

3. Individual security: This is when each individual receives their own username and password to access the data center. This means the encryption key for each user is unique.

4. Redundant power: A data center that runs on redundant power is one that is going to survive such incidents as blackouts. This means they are running from separate sources of electricity and they also have backup generators. That way, if the power goes out there and not at your facility, you’re still in business.

5. Verification at each end: Every single time a file is written to disk at the data center, their integrity is verified. They are verified each time they are written to the disk. If verification fails, it is transmitted to an identical server.

6. Protocol security: Protocols such as HTTP are vulnerable to hackers, so a secure data security system uses one that hackers do not target.

7. Firewalls: The firewall that is used should be similar to those used on home computers so that the business can connect with backup software and not be locked out.

8. Restricting remote access: This only limits access to certain IP addresses. This is so someone cannot access the data center from another location when they aren’t supposed to.

9. Virus protection: Viruses come in all shapes and sizes and the data center must be protected as well. Virus protection keeps the data center virus free.

10. 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL): This is what you want to see to make sure information is not retrieved or corrupted in any way.

So if you’re looking for a data center that can make your business as successful as you want it to be, these are ten security features that you can look for that will make a large difference in how securely you do business. You can also confidently ensure your customers that their information is safe.

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Our computers have become a necessary part of our lives. We use them for doing work, corresponding with friends and family and even for entertainment. Over time, most computer users create many file that are important documents which could cost both time and money if lost. Data backups are the best way to ensure you don’t lose any of those files.

Many users have made the mistake of thinking backups are only for big companies or computer geeks, or even just thinking they’ll do it when they have time. Unfortunately every single one of those users has either lost data by not having a backup, or they will one day. All computer equipment has a finite lifespan and will fail eventually.

When that failure occurs, one of two things will happen. If you have a backup, you’ll restore it back onto your repaired computer or a replacement. If you don’t, you’ll be pulling your hair out over the lost files, music, digital photos and all the other stuff you store on your machine.

There are a number of things that can cause data loss. There’s the obvious hardware failures, where something in the computer breaks down but there are also things such as floods, fires or even your dog bumping the power off button at the wrong moment. You could also be the victim of a virus or spyware that wipes out all your files.

Having that data stored in a backup is often the only way to get it back. And even if it can be recovered by a data recovery service, it can cost thousands of dollars for them to do the work.

What to Backup?

Most people don’t actually have to backup every single file on their computer. This can require a large amount of storage and can take a long time. The critical things to backup are all the files you have created and any software that cannot be replaced. Financial records, word processing documents, legal files - the list goes on and on.

The list can go on and on, but the backup doesn’t need to.

The easiest way to backup your files is to use the software that comes with most operating systems. Windows includes one, as does Mac OS X, Linux and others. These programs are usually pretty straightforward and it’s just a matter of selecting the files and folders you want to save. Many of them can even be scheduled to run in the middle of the night or some other time you’re not using your computer.

If you want something with more features, there are plenty of programs you can purchase. These paid versions often include additional features, such as the ability to backup only the files that have changed since the last backup was done.

Some files are a little tougher to backup, such as email. Some email software stores the messages on the server instead of on your computer. In those cases, you can usually save the messages into a file on your computer that can then be backed up.

Backups can be done to any kind of removable media - writeable CD’s/DVD’s, removable hard drives or even the newer ‘keychain’ devices that plug into a USB port. Even floppy disks can still be used in many cases. Documents often take a small amount of space. Just set aside 7 disks and rotate them from week to week.

Daily backups are one more thing to do in a busy schedule. But the day you lose that file you need and can’t restore, you’re going to be a whole lot busier.

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As this is the information age, most firms use other forms of media to store their valuable data. However, there is one form called the tape drive that are still used by many organizations worldwide. The notion of tape data recovery still entails mystery and how it is to be done. This type of recovery is to recover any data that has been lost on a tape.

Even with a solid plastic casing protect the tape within, the tape cartridge like any other storage devices, can be damaged from smoke, water, or dropping the cartridge from high levels. Extreme exposure to high temperatures, its internal mechanism of the tape might fails, thus causing errors located within the tape’s surface.

With more organizations using tape as a storage media, damages done by water, absence of oxide, folds in the tape material, sliced edges, bad oxide and even frictional damage tape data can be recovered from tapes. There are generally two types of tape data recovery. These are known as physical recovery and logical recovery.

What is physical recovery for a tape data?

When there is a physical damage to the tape, a physical tape data recovery will then be required. It can be due to the damage done physically to the plastics, cartridge, or the tape itself from preventing the data to be read effectively.

Another reason for physical recovery can be due to the deterioration of magnetic coatings on the actual tape surface, broken or cracked wheels, twisted or folded tape, creased tape edges, broken tape, stretched tape, and etc.

There are lots of companies or stores promise a high recovery rate from using physical recovery methods. They claimed that they have over 98 percent success rate of their recovery techniques.

When you have dropped your tape into mud, water or simply dropped from high levels, and felt that there could be some damaged done to the tape. It is important to get the tape to those recovery companies and get them repair as soon as possible.

What is logical recovery?

Logical tape data recovery is more complicated than physical recovery, and is also more expensive than the normal recovery techniques.

We need logical recovery is when the data was successfully recorded on the tape, however for some unknown reasons, if it cannot be read. You have to quickly find a way to solve this issue. Also, it does not show any visible form of damage to the tape and the exterior of the tape itself.

In order for the technician to execute the recovery procedures properly, he has to use multiple versions of the tape recovery software and take many “passes” at the tape using it.

Using the recovery methods mentioned above, you can easily pieced back lost tape data. But the success rate of logical tape data recovery is much lower than the physical tape data recovery.

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