Part 3: Is a Small Business Server Right for My Small Business?
Posted by Tony Fernandez on Tue, Oct 20, 2009
Another advantage of investing in your own small business serv
er is data safety or what's more commonly known as data backup. If you are already have or intend to purchase a server, it is imperative to create and implement a back up strategy that will fit your company needs. This need is further amplified if your office is using a shared workstation/machine (which acts as your server) to hold all of your company data. Unplanned risks, such as fire, water damage, hardware overheating or just plain hardware failure can be a knock out for a small business if major data loss occurred.
Think about it. When was the last time you backed-up your data? Have you tested by doing a restore?
Microsoft includes a backup utility (Windows Backup) proven to be very good and, most-of-all, fully supported.
- Microsoft Small Business Server will use this technology to walk you through selecting the data to back up (it's recommended that you select all data) and creating a retention scheme (how far back you want to be able to restore data).
- Removable media like tape or external drives are recommended so you can rotate them and take them off site.
- Review your options of bringing your server up and running including the operating system not just the data. This will reduce business downtime in case a full recovery is needed.
The online backup is another option.
- It might be a good alternative for your business, if you don't want to deal with taking media off site.
- This option can be expensive if large amount of data is planned to be backed up, but at least get a quote so you can compare prices.
To recap from my article series on servers, I've discussed how a small 
business server will enable you to:
1. Share and store files in a centralized location
2. Connect remotely to increase productivity while traveling
3. Sync your smart phone to your Outlook data wirelessly
4. Protect your sensitive information
5. Back up important company data
Find out if a small business server is right for your business - read my previous articles on servers:
Article 1: Share and store files
Article 2: Connect remotely and sync your smart phone
If you have any questions about whether a server is right for your small business, please feel free to contact me.