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"Along Those Lines"
9/12/2003 - Archive
Protection for Your Computer and Genealogical Data
I live in Florida, the lightning capital of the United States. This
summer has been the most active one I have seen for rainy, electric weather in
the past ten years. Instead of our every-afternoon shower, which coincides with
rush hour, there have been almost daily lightning and thunderstorms, with rain
pouring down in inches at a time.
Needless to say, in this environment, I try to be careful about all my electronic
equipment, especially the computer. Since my livelihood is linked to the data
stored there, as are several decades' worth of genealogical information, it is
important that I should establish a regular computer backup plan. Right? Well,
on Thursday, 21 August 2003, we took a direct lightning strike to the house and,
despite all the data protection provisions I had taken, there was still some damage
and some data loss. It could, however, have been much, much worse.
In "Along Those Lines . . ." this week, let's discuss how you can protect
your computer and your data.
What a Difference a Day Makes!
The lightning strike to my computer destroyed the motherboard and damaged the
motor of my hard disk drive. The cost to replace these components, replace some
cables, and to install all the computer's "guts" into a new case cost
me more than $800! (Dell doesn't sell replacement components to local computer
retailers and repair services.) In addition, the data on the hard disk was not
retrievable by my computer shop. While I had backed up a great deal of data, there
were some things that I had been complacent about and which are a necessity for
my business. Therefore, my hard disk has gone on a little vacation of its own
to the "data recovery hospital" to determine if that essential data
can be recovered. The starting cost for this service is a whopping $1,000.00!
Yes, I admit that I should have known better than to let my backup routine lapse
in any way. However, it just goes to show that all of us are vulnerable.
Components of Your Computer System
Your computer is a delicate piece of electronic equipment, and for the amount
of money you paid for it, you want to protect it. Consider the layout of your
computer system for a moment.
First, your computer consists of a box commonly referred to as the CPU (Central
Processing Unit), a monitor, keyboard, and a mouse. It may also have a modem installed
inside (for dial-up telephone line connections) and/or a network card. The latter
is sometimes referred to as an Ethernet card, a network interface card (or NIC),
or simply a network card.
Second, if you have a network card, you are probably capable of communicating
via a cable network connection or DSL service from your home. In a larger corporate
environment, you may be connecting via dedicated high-speed T1 or T3 lines. Therefore,
you may have either a cable or DSL modem to interface you with your service provider.
Third, you probably have a printer, a scanner, a fax machine, and/or some other
equipment attached to your computer for additional functionality.
All of these pieces of computer equipment and peripheral devices add up to some
big bucks! You certainly want to protect them all from things like lightning strikes,
power surges, and similar problems.
Basic Protection
Power surges and brownouts can really wreak havoc on those microscopic electrical
connections on the motherboard, on the circuit boards and cards in your computer,
and on other equipment. It doesn't take much to zap them.
The most basic protection for your computer and its peripherals is electrical
surge prevention. A surge protector strip can help prevent a minor electrical
power spike. Remember that there is more electrical input coming into your computer
than just the electricity from the wall outlet. A telephone line and a cable or
DSL line also carry electricity. It is not unusual for lightning to strike the
earth and travel many miles through telephone lines to your home. Your telephone
and cable or DSL lines should also be running through a surge protector of some
sort to help buffer your computer.
Some power strips available in office supply and computer stores come with multiple
three-prong, grounded electrical outlets as well as input and output jacks for
the standard telephone line (known as an RJ-45 connector plug). These can be effective
for smaller systems with dial modems. There are a variety of quality manufacturers,
including Fellowes, Belkins, and APC (see below).
Another option is the battery back-up/surge protector system. The American Power
Conversion Corporation (commonly known as APC) is the manufacturer of some of
the best of these units for use in both home and business environments. You can
visit their webpage at: www.apc.com .
They provide everything from high quality surge protectors mentioned above to
the battery back-up/surge protector units, into which numerous pieces of equipment,
telephone lines, and cable or DSL lines can be plugged. Different models provide
different times of uninterrupted power so that if your electricity goes out for
a while, you don't immediately lose what you were working on at the time.
In my case, I also was running two APC units in my home at the time of the lightning
strike. One unit protected one computer and all its peripherals with the exception
of the network card. The other APC unit prevented my worst damaged computer from
being a complete loss, i.e., some parts were salvageable. Without that protection,
we believe that the one computer would have been a complete loss and may have
presented a fire risk.
Back Up, Back Up, Back Up!
Take an hour at your earliest convenience and take inventory of the data on your
computer that if lost, is difficult or impossible to replace. Consider your genealogical
database materials, digitized photographs, word processing documents, e-mail address
book, spreadsheets, checkbook or financial programs, Web browser bookmarks/favorites,
and other unique data. Make a list of those items and where they are located on
your computer.
Next, determine how frequently you need to back the data up in some manner. You
may back it up to diskettes, in which case you can use your computer system's
back-up facility. (Windows users can go to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Backup.)
You might also consider copying files or entire directories or folders to a removable
Zip drive disk or burning data to a CD. Another trick I use for some data is to
e-mail it as an attachment to myself. I do this with my financial ledger and that
places a copy outside my office.
Establish a regular back up routine by notating a calendar with those things that
should be backed up and when. Then, stick to your plan.
Offsite Back Up Options
If you are concerned about your most important genealogical data, digital photographs,
and other related data, you might want to consider creating a MyFamily.com website.
It is quick, simple to create, and an inexpensive off-site data storage facility.
Your individual site is secure and password-protected. Only you and other persons,
whom you authorize to access the site, either as viewers or as administrators,
can get into your MyFamily.com space. You can always upload an updated version
of your files on a regular basis and alleviate the risk of data loss.
Summary
Take it from a victim of a computer catastrophe. Protect your valuable computer
equipment and your data in every way you can. Definitely invest in electrical
surge protection for your computer, the peripheral equipment, and the communications
lines. And be certain to formulate a regular back-up schedule for your data. You
won't be sorry when you become the victim!
Happy Hunting!
George
George G. Morgan would like to hear from you at "atl @ ahaseminars.com",
but due to the volume of e-mail received, he is unable to answer every message.
Please note that he cannot assist you with your individual research. Visit George's
website at
ahaseminars.com/atl
for information about speaking engagements.
Copyright 2003, MyFamily.com. All rights reserved.
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