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A Paradox: Apple’s Time Machine Showing a Few Faults

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There is nothing worse than losing data, not even a flat tire or paper cut between your toes.  There are a variety of ways to keep your data from being swallowed by the ether.  One such way, that is touted by Apple is Time Machine.

It works by taking an image of a hard drive, copying every file except for select root directories and itself.  Then it transfers the image to an external hard drive, such as the brand specific Time Capsule.  After the initial image is taken, every hour Time Machine takes more hard drive images.  To save time, it compares the new image to the old one and only keeps files that are different, i.e changes you’ve made in the last hour.

However, like with their new, but defunct, mapping application Apple’s new Time Machine is showing faults.  One such fault may be a sign of a bigger problem.  The blog Mac’s Performance Guide has report on Time Machine not backing up partitioned drives.  Evidence suggests that when a drive is unmounted, mission critical files can be excluded from Time Machine’s backup list.

Why is this important?  Well, although one can argue that Mac’s have a lot user friendly features, no one can argue that there’s a plethora of software made with them in mind.  This causes individuals to partition their drives with Bootcamp, software that allows another operating system to be live on your Mac.

The fact is that if you want a well optimized office, you need your Macs to have Windows on them.  It is well known that the Mac’s versions of the Office are inferior to those of the Windows’.  However, this bug could mean none of the Microsoft Word documents and spreadsheets are being backed up.

If you really are feeling antsy, I’d suggest that you backup all your critical files to the cloud. Find out more here.

Hurricane Isaac and Disaster Recovery

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Article first published as Hurricane Isaac and Disaster Recovery on Technorati.

As Tropical Storm Isaac threatens to hit the Florida shore, there’s no doubt some business owners in the area are scared. They’re worried about their safety and that of their employees, of course. And they’re worried about damage to their buildings and vehicles. But many are surely also concerned about their data—customer information, sales records, payroll and budget information, and everything else they keep on their computers.

Safety and property damage will always be an issue when major storms roll in. But in 2012, there’s no reason why the threat of data loss should cause anyone additional headaches. Remote backup solutions and cloud storage are available to businesses of every size at every price point.

Yet many companies aren’t taking advantage of what’s available. A study released earlier this year found that less than 40 percent of small to mid-sized businesses use any kind of cloud data storage.

The start of hurricane season should serve as a powerful reminder of why more companies should shift to remote backup. Last year, the season brought 19 tropical storms, including seven full-fledged hurricanes, to the U.S. Insured losses from the season came to about $5 billion, according to Risk Management Solutions Inc.

Of course, those losses were mostly physical property. But data loss can be even more devastating than a wrecked office. Seventy percent of small firms that have a major data loss go out of business within a year, according to a report by HP and the small-business advisory organization SCORE.

Even if you live far from Florida, there’s good reason to make sure your data is backed up in the cloud. According to the HP report, only 40 percent of data loss is caused by the destruction of hardware. Nineteen percent is the fault of software problems or viruses, and a full 38 percent is caused by human error or theft.

A good backup or cloud storage system can protect you against all those issues. It can also offer other advantages, like access to all your information when you’re away from the office. That means that, whether a flood sweeps your server away or an ice storm keeps your employees stuck at home, work can continue without missing a beat.