Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Access To The Hidden Partition Pqservice

Many laptops and computers comes in our days without recovery cd, the OS and driver are in hidden partition.

I will show you step by step how to unhide this partition. You will need to use PARTEDIT32.

Be aware that you can lose all your data in this operation, you should backup all your important things before.

Access To The Hidden Partition Pqservice

This, is working with acer aspire laptops and probably with a large variety of computer with hidden partition.

First boot in bios menu by pressing F2 key on boot,

disable the d2d recovery save and restart.

Now we will use PARTEDIT32 this nice freeware software will make a great job, it will allow you to make your partition visible in some clicks of mouse and on the fly under Windows XP.

Unzip and launch Partedit32. The user interface opens, simple but effective, if you have more than one hard disk, choose the one where your hidden partition is in the menu Hard Disk, then look at the column TYPE in your partitions table here is the type of your partition, you can reach a list of the various types of partition by clicking the button SET TYPE.

In this example with a Acer laptop the name of the partition is PQSERVICE and its type is 12, changes it by type 07, save and reboot.

After boot in windows go to my computer you will see a new disk named PQSERVICE you have done it.

In this disk you can find your drivers and windows files. We will explain in another review how to make a real windows cd with these data.

Since that you have finish with these data you just have to repeat the operation and change back the value.

Access To The Hidden Partition Pqservice
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Friday, November 23, 2012

How To Create An Image Using Symantec Ghost, Ghostcast Server?

If you want to create an image of your hard disk it can be done in several ways. A way to do this is to boot the computer from a Symantec Ghost floppy disk and to create the image by multicasting, unicasting, disk to disk or peer to peer.

So if you want to create an image the first thing you have to do is to create a Symantec Ghost boot disk. This boot disk doesn't boot to Windows but boots the Symantec Ghost utility in DOS.

How to create an image using GhostCast server?

How To Create An Image Using Symantec Ghost, Ghostcast Server?

GhostCast server is a utility of the Symantec Ghost software. Using GhostCast server you can create images of computers in the network or you can restore an image to several connected clients at the same time. The only thing you have to do is to boot all the clients with a Symantec Ghost boot disk, then you accept all the connected clients in the GhostCast server utility and then you simply send the image to all connected clients.

First you have to make sure that the computer of which you want to create an image of, is connected to the network. Of course the GhostCast server computer has to be connected as well.

Boot the client from the Symantec Ghost boot disk.

Now return to your GhostCast server computer and start the GhostCast server utility by clicking Start -> Programs -> Symantec Ghost -> GhostCast server.

Here you have to enter a session name in the Session Name box.

Then you enable the 'Create Image' option to create an image from the clients.

Then you click the 'Browse' button to browse for a place where the image must be stored.

If you want to create an image of the entire hard disk of the client you select the 'Disk' option. Do you want to create an image of a particular partition you select the 'Partition' option. (In this example I describe how to create an image of a disk).

Then you click the 'Accept Clients' button.

Now GhostCast server waits for the clients to connect.

You can see that there are no clients connected until now.

Now you go to the client which is booted in Symantec Ghost and you click (or by keyboard) 'GhostCast' -> 'Unicast'.

You enter the session name exactly the same as given in GhostCast Server.

Leave the option 'Discovery Method' to 'Automatic' and click 'Ok'.

The next thing you do is, you select the drive of which an image must be made of.
and click 'Ok'.

Here you can choose if the image must be compressed to safe disk space. The options are 'No', 'Fast' or 'High' compression.

I recommend you choose 'Fast' compression.

The next thing you need to do is to confirm the image creation by clicking 'Yes'.

Now Symantec Ghost is waiting for you to click the 'Send' button in GhostCast Server.

So, return to the GhostCast Server computer and click the 'Send' button.

After you clicked 'Send' the image will be created and stored at the location you chose in GhostCast Server.

You can see the details in GhostCast Server.

After the GhostCast progress is 100 % your image is created and you can close GhostCast Server.

You have successful created your Ghost image using GhostCast Server!!

How To Create An Image Using Symantec Ghost, Ghostcast Server?
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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Starting a Coffee Shop - Equipment Needs

So you have decided on starting a coffee shop! Congratulations! In my coffee shop business plan package, I go into more detail regarding equipment but due to space here, I am only going to give you some basic ideas of what to consider when looking at your equipment needs.

First of all, do yourself a favor and DO NOT buy any used equipment unless you know the exact age, where it came from, who used it, and that maintenance records are verifiable. I am only referring to anything with a motor or compressor. Used sinks, tables, counters, etc are fine as long as they are in decent shape. All other equipment, be VERY careful!

Even if you get it from a friend, you might be assured by them that the equipment was maintained properly and often, however did they get it used and can they get that guarantee from whom they bought it from? And how old really is it?

Starting a Coffee Shop - Equipment Needs

As you may have guessed, I fell into this trap and had things breaking down when I did not expect it shortly after I opened my coffee shop. Yes even my espresso machine. I was in a bad spot then! Luckily I had access to a one group machine for backup and a local guy was able to fix the other fast but you may not be as lucky.

I eventually upgraded to mostly new equipment when, but this can be avoided by getting new equipment at the start. You will be glad you did it, trust me!

Equipment Needs

Cash register or POS computer? - A computer POS (point of sale) system is good there is no doubt about it. These are the ones that have the touch screen monitors and such. However, they are probably (and arguably) best for analyzing your sales and inventory only, and not much more. They do not speed up your customer line.

If you want one of these guys, be prepared to pay about 00 for a base system. The price goes up for multiple terminals and printers, monitors, a kitchen printer, etc.

In my opinion though, a POS fast food register that has price look ups (PLU) and department categories is sufficient for most coffee shops. Try to get one that allows you to download the information to your computer. Most have this feature today. It may, however increase your manual inventory and sales tracking if you have to put this info into your accounting software and spreadsheets manually but it can be a big money saver. If you get in the habit of entering the figures daily, you will not have a huge amount of data entry to do at month's end. You can usually get these types of registers for about 0 or so.

If you end up opening other stores, I think the touch screen computer POS may be the way to go then because it will make your management and inventory control much easier, and you can link all of your stores together and control them from one place.

Espresso Machine

This is the Mack daddy of the whole business, your life blood. DO NOT SKIMP ON IT! However, having said that there is the line of overkill you do not need to cross either. I say, two group maximum, if you need more power or want a backup, get a one group as well.

The feasibility of a three or four group is great but it's difficult to get more than one person working on them due to spacing of the group heads, etc. Ordinarily, you do not need more than one person pulling shots and making the espresso beverages anyway. It is almost impossible for one barista to use all four groups at one time so you be the judge! However that may be up to debate if you get REALLY busy. However, a two group is always my choice.

There are three basic types of espresso machines: Semi-Automatic, Automatic or Super Automatic. Well My choice is always the automatic because you can program them to cut off a shot at 23 seconds, or whatever you choose but still do it manually. The semi-automatic requires manual shut off by the operator.

The super automatic machine will grind the beans, tamp, pull the shot, shut it off and even discard the used grounds. Yes, I am serious. I believe you lose a lot of 'art' when you use one of these. You'd be surprised at the amount of people that love to see a barista set up and then pull a great shot. These super autos are also big bucks. But if all you want to do is move your cattle call through the line, this is the machine for you!

The boiler capacity should be large enough for a big rush, 9-14 liters should be sufficient. You do not want to run out of steam or hot water in a rush and with a smaller boiler that will happen! Trust me on this from experience!

Buy a machine based on the availability to get parts and service locally. Do not buy based on price alone, or 'coolness' or 'features' of a machine. They are all good these days. Features will not mean anything if you cannot get local service on your machine.

As far as water softeners, the choice to get a whole water system softener is going to depend on where you are located. In central Texas, the water is VERY hard but I chose to not soften my whole water system, just for the espresso machine. If you are not familiar with hard water, this is what causes lime build-up. It's a white, crusty looking build up that will kill your 00 or 10,000 espresso machine. It clogs up the piping that in time, builds up to the point of the water not being able to get through. Then your machine needs to be completely taken apart and de-limed. Not pretty and not cheap!

You will most likely have to have a complete de-liming performed several times over the life of your machine, however if your water is very hard and you do not soften it for your espresso machine, you will most likely have to have it de-limed at a minimum of once per year. This will get time-consuming and expensive, even if you learn to do it yourself. I had my one group de-limed for about 0 so do the math. Avoid lime scale build-up by getting a water softener.

Espresso Grinders

You will need one for decaf and one for regular espresso. There are several manufacturers and models. I will tell you though to be sure it's automatic and has a doser/coffee hopper. They make a doserless model that grinds right into the portafilter and though this is freshly ground espresso, it does not work well in a rush! The units with a hopper allow the hopper to fill with ground espresso and have a lid to keep out the air. The bigger units have a bigger hopper and vice versa. Also, these have a bean hopper that you can get about 2 lbs of espresso beans in.

Bulk Coffee Grinder

These are the types you see in the food store bulk coffee aisle. Be sure to get the full scale version, not the shorter one. The only difference I can see is the taller one is easier to get a bag under to grind beans for customers. The shorter one is not! Try to have one grinder for regular and decaf, and another for flavored coffee if you will serve it. Using the same for all three will make the regular and decaf coffee taste like the flavored coffee. This grinder will need proper maintenance and burr replacement after so many hours as well. Follow the manufacturer's recommendations on this.

Coffee Maker (drip)

Be sure to buy for your volume. Automatics are best as they are plumbed to a water line. Pour over units will you need to fill manually! The air pot brewers are the better fits because they brew the coffee directly into the air pots. There are single unit models and double unit models. You will save a lot of time especially in a rush, with a double brew unit.

Pastry Case (refrigerated and non)

There are several different sizes. Take your floor space into consideration but also buy for capacity and visual display. A nice, attractive unit that holds and displays a nice array of pastries is key for merchandising. Dual zone cases are a good idea because they let you have part cold, and part room temperature (dry case) pastries that do not need to be refrigerated.

Blender

There are several models to choose from but some have features you just won't need. Be sure to get a commercial blender. Consumer units do not have the heavy duty types of motors that commercial units have. That means they will break down a lot faster than a commercial one! I would suggest you give Vitamix a look here.

Sandwich Prep Unit

These come in single, double and triple door units. Of course, plan for your overall room but your needs as well. The larger units have more capacity inside the unit, but the bigger plus is the prep top area that has more compartments to put meats, vegetables, etc in. If you are planning on a regular deli and Panini service, I would say the double door unit would be good. You may even get away with the smaller one!

Under Counter Refrigerator

Do yourself a favor and get a double door unit. These are basically like the sandwich prep units but without the top compartments. The inside capacity should be big enough to hold a good portion of your dairy, as well as opened soy cartons, smoothie mix, bottled water and soda (if you do not have a larger unit or merchandiser for water and soda. Plan accordingly.

Storage Refrigerator

This is for the back of your shop. This will be your commercial refrigerator in the back area to house your back stock of refrigerated items such as milk, as well as your baking ingredients, food items, etc. There are double and single door units.

Ice Maker

Getting an ice maker that can make an average of 600-1000 lbs per day is good. It will give you enough and still be able to make more within 24 hours. In a busy shop, you'd be surprised how much ice you can go through: sodas, fruit smoothies, frappes, frozen chai.

Freezer

You will need one of these to keep your ice cream, and other food ingredients that can and need to be frozen.

Oven

Get this based on your baking level. A 1/4 size may be too small and a full size may be too big. The median unit is a 1/2 size and has 3 racks.

Convection oven? Most pastries, pies and other baking can be done well in a convection oven. That is an oven that has a blower wheel that disperses the heat evenly and faster throughout the oven. Therefore your baking time is usually cut in half.

Panini Grill

Cast iron (non-ceramic) with ribbed plates are the better units. With the ribbed, rather than flat plates you will get the 'grill marks' on the bread and that always looks impressive. I recommend a double plate unit so you can effectively grill up to four Panini at once if you have a large order.

Three Compartment Sink

This will be essential per most health departments for wash, rinse and sanitize. If you have a commercial dishwasher, it usually overrides the 3 bay sink. However, most restaurants have both. You don't need a big one, just one big enough to get your biggest 'washable' piece of baking or cooking hardware into.

Hand Sink(s)

Check your health department requirements because you may need a hand sink every so many feet or based on how many employees you have, or based on your floor plan. These are sinks only big enough to wash your hands in and that is it. That is why they are so small.

Furniture

Pick and choose what is in between comfortable and not. This will help you avoid squatters that love to stay all day. Ordinarily, people in your store is a good thing but not if they are taking up space and just being comfy! This will include your tables and chairs, as well as couch, wing hairs, etc. If you are an eclectic coffee house, good finds can be had at Goodwill and other resale shops.

Phone

Just get one that you can hear when it rings! A cordless phone is a great idea.

Radio System

If u can, get extra speakers and have one in at least all four corners for best sound quality.

Credit Card Machine

This is the swiper w/pin pad - If you accept credit and debit cards, this is essential. Usually they are purchased from your credit card processor. Leasing one of these is usually a rip-off. Try to buy it outright.

Prep Tables

These are stainless steel or aluminum and great to make a kitchen prep area. They clean easily too. They come in various heights and widths, with or without a backsplash and usually have a shelf underneath.

So there you have some information to get you started on planning your equipment needs for staring a coffee shop. Be sure you take your floor space into account when figuring the sizes of your equipment. Also be sure you account for your anticipated customer volume. Early planning is key to having the right equipment to begin with.

Starting a Coffee Shop - Equipment Needs
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Tony DiCorpo is a coffee shop owner, operator, barista and entrepreneur. He is also a coffee shop business consultant. He has authored many articles on the specialty coffee business and a business plan package that can be found at http://www.tonys-coffee-shop-business-plan.com

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Thursday, November 15, 2012

How to Recover Data From Failed Hard Drives

There are two main methods of recovering data from failed hard drives.

First of all, you can run specialized data recovery software that could retrieve all of your important data files. In the majority of cases, you will be able to recover the data from your failed hard drives without too much trouble using data recovery freeware, or purchase fully supported software if you prefer.

Please note hat data recovery is not always possible if the actual problem is due to aging or faulty hard drive component such as a broken head arm. In those extra-ordinary cases you would have the hardware fixed by an expert technician before being able to access any of the precious data on the hard drive.

How to Recover Data From Failed Hard Drives

As far as data recovery in concerned, there are no limitations to the physical size of your hard drive. Whether you are trying to recover data from a 1 MB pen drive or a 300 GB Ultra-SCSI drive, you should still be able to recover the data.

Additionally, there are no limitations to the different types of operating systems which you may be trying to recover data from, such as Microsoft Windows to Linux systems. This also extends to include different file formats such as FAT32 and NTFS which are very common file formats for Windows systems, or the Mac OS file system used by Apple Macs.

Information can be retrieved from all sectors of the hard drive - even files that you may have deleted in the past which had ended up in recycle bin prior to your hard drive failing would be recoverable.

Secondly, data recovery experts will be able to recover lost data from most damaged hard drives. It's not surprising that most common damage is attributable to drop damage and spill damage, especially in the case of laptops.

At the corporate level, most companies use RAID (redundant array of inexpensive disks) configurations to protect their data and to negate the impact of a single hard disk drive failing. There would be no loss of data if one of the disks in a RAID 5 disk-set failed as you would be able to re-construct the data for the failed member from the remaining disks. However, if the entire RAID volume failed, then that would be a cause for concern.

In the case of a RAID volume failing you would have little alternative but to send your hard drives to a data recovery expert to restore the RAID configuration as well as the data. This would also be the case if your disk partition failed and you were unable to access the data held on that particular partition or disk.

The recovery of your important data and files from failed hard drives is possible using data recovery software. If your hard drives are badly damaged, or the RAID volume-set has failed and the data on the hard disks is inaccessible, requesting professional assistance from data recovery experts would be a better option.

How to Recover Data From Failed Hard Drives
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Monday, November 12, 2012

ISO to Backup and Restore Your Hard Drive

Do you ever calculate the times you have performed operating systems installations? Well, personally, I cannot remember the actual times I have installed Windows for both work and personal. Let me give some rough figures.

Windows 3.11 - 5 times

Windows 95 - 5 times

ISO to Backup and Restore Your Hard Drive

Windows 98 - 50 times

Windows Me - 5 times

Windows 2000 - 5 times

Linux Red Hat - 3 times

Windows XP Pro - 100 times

Windows Server 2003 - 3 times

Windows Vista - 8 times

Honestly, I never enjoy going through the process of installing any of the operating systems. For those who know me, I will most probably be looking at the progress bar during the installation as if I am very interested. However, I am actually very frustrated and hoping that the progress bar could go as fast as it could be.

Attended Installation

Well, some of you may know that the normal installation through the OS CD or DVD (such as looking at the progress bar and clicking several next buttons) is called attended installation and it is possible that you create your own unattended installation using deployment tools. However, I will not be covering the Windows unattended installation.

Unattended Installation

Most companies use Imaging (ISO) to create a duplicate copy of installed operating system so that they can easily install the exact copy of operating system with their corporate settings to every new machine by extracting the ISO.

ISO Images

- ISO is an archive or a duplicate or backup copy of whatever files that you wish to store

In other words, I create ISO images to backup my entire operating system hard drive data.

Hiren BooCD and Norton Ghost to create ISOs

I use Hiren BootCD, the all in one Dos Bootable CD. One of the software included is Norton Ghost, which can be used to create hard disk images known as ISOs.

ImgBurn

ImgBurn is a Windows program and it's free. You can install it and create ISO images or burn the images into CDs and DVDs.

ImgBurn VS Hiren BootCD

The difference between the two is that ImgBurn needs to be installed as a Windows program and undeniably, a good and easy tool to create ISO images. However, if your hard disk is corrupted, you won't be able to use ImgBurn unless you have dual booting. Thus, you need to use HirenBootCD and Norton Ghost to extract your ISO images to the corrupted hard disk.

The Idea

Simple:

1. Complete an attended installation or manual installation from CD or DVD on one machine

2. Install all the necessary programs that you need such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat Reader and the likes

3. Perform operating system updates

After performing the steps above, boot your computer from Hiren BootCD and you will come to a screen for you to select the types of software that are bundled. Choose Norton Ghost from the list and from there, you can create an image out of your partition drive.

The ISO file can be stored in your hard disk for easy access but not in the same drive where you install your operating system. If your computer fails to load or startup properly, you can then pop in Hiren BootCD, boot from the CD and restore the ISO file.

The Practice

My own practice is to have at least two partitions, namely C and D.

- C drive will be the drive where I install my operating system and programs

- D drive will be my document drive

- A copy of ISO created from the C drive will be kept in D drive

Benefit

When operating system is corrupted, none of my document files will be affected when I extract ISO into the C drive. Extracting ISO to C drive will overwrite every data in C drive without any warning. However, after extracting the ISO, you will get the same settings and operating system as of the time when you create the ISO.

What's more? You do not have to go through the process of keying the product key, selecting the time zone, installing the drivers and commonly used programs.

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Thursday, November 8, 2012

How to Format Your PC

(Formatting a PC is to delete all the data that currently is on your Computer and upgrade it to a newer version of an operating system or install the same operating system once again on the same computer.)

A virus has intruded in your PC or you want to upgrade from your older versions of Windows, you will have to format your PC. Formatting your PC can sometimes be a very tough process if you do not have the proper knowledge.

There are many benefits of formatting such as: Faster Computer No Virus etc.

How to Format Your PC

But there are some disadvantages too: You lose all your data You have to install all your favourite software once again.

Now, lets start the process of formatting a PC.

First of all, you will need a bootable disk of WINDOWS XP to boot your computer from the disk. Warning -- Please backup all your data before you format your PC.

The process of formatting is as follows:

1. Insert the WINDOWS XP bootable disk in the CD drive.
2. Restart your PC (if it was already running).
3. Press enter when the monitor reads PRESS ANY KEY.
4. Now comes the time to partition your drives.
5. If you want to delete any partition, press D or L(whichever is displayed on the screen).
6. Afterwards format the drive you want to install the operating system (XP) in.
7. Press ENTER.
8. The formatting will start.
9. Follow the procedures. 10.It should take around 40 minutes for the installation to finish. 11.Use windows(HAVE A GOOD TIME).

How to Format Your PC
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Monday, November 5, 2012

Strategies for Data Backup and Redundancy

With dramatic increases in data growth and a growing dependence on data for business continuity, companies need to know that their data is stored securely and can be recovered quickly - using the minimum of space for the maximum benefit.

Keeping pace with the data explosion is not easy. With up to 50% growth year on year and increasingly complex IT environments, many backup systems are struggling to cope. At the same time, achieving high levels of redundancy can be expensive and companies risk paying a premium for high-spec solutions that far outperform their needs.

Every customer is different, both in terms of architecture and budget. So everything needs to be considered - from simple off-the-shelf tools to solutions that are custom fit to your systems - with a constant focus on increasing capacity and reducing costs.

Strategies for Data Backup and Redundancy

Backup vs Redundancy vs Archiving

The technology overlap between backup, redundancy and archiving can often lead to confusion, but each has a different role to play in streamlining and safeguarding data. Backups essentially create a second copy of data at specific points in time, ideally keeping multiple historic copies. Redundancy establishes a straight copy of an entire system, ready to take over if the original system fails. Backup offers a certain level of redundancy, and redundancy a basic level of backup, but neither are stand-alone solutions.

Archiving makes a primary copy of selected data with the aim of retaining data in the long-term. Not all of the data contained in a backup will ultimately end up in an archive so archiving is rarely an adequate backup solution in itself but as a complementary approach, it can considerably optimize the data storage process.

Most backup strategies rely on a combination of backup, redundancy and archiving. An important factor to bear in mind when planning a backup schedule is prioritization of data. Not all data is created equal and a tiered backup strategy that restores the most critical applications first will get you back in business faster and cut data storage costs.

Backup Types

Full - A full backup copies every file in a system. Restore times are fast but backups are time-consuming and space-intensive so scheduling and data prioritization are important considerations.

Differential/Incremental - Differential and incremental backups fill in the gaps between full backups, storing any changes to data. They require a fraction of the server CPU cycles, bandwidth and storage space. The risk of data loss is obviously greater than full backups and restore times are slower but Blueberry can use special snapshot technology such as Amazon EBS to rebuild images more rapidly.

Synthetic - A synthetic backup consolidates a full backup and subsequent incremental backups into a single file. Recovery is fast, using less server cycles and bandwidth.

Continuous Data Protection - In contrast to scheduled backup, continuous data protection (CDP) continuously tracks data modifications. CDP saves all changes and data can be recovered rapidly from any point in the past. Bandwidth burden is considerable but using compression techniques and block-level incremental backup, Blueberry can significantly reduce this load.

Mirroring - Mirroring is a redundancy solution that literally mirrors your systems by making a straight copy of data to two or more drives simultaneously. Thereafter only new and modified files are copied. Unlike a full backup, data is not usually compressed so recovery is faster.

Backing up to the Cloud

Cloud-based services such as Amazon's EC2 offer a cost-efficient and scalable option for offsite backup. Users can easily access data remotely and businesses can expand their storage requirements as needed. There are still some issues to consider when choosing a solution. Pricing models vary from provider to provider, ranging from tiered pay-as-you-go options to basic flat fees. Some vendors may also charge for additional backup services. Sufficient bandwidth is a crucial consideration, although many providers will only send changed data over the network after the first full backup. Data security is also a valid concern and Service Level Agreements (SLA) should be carefully scrutinized to ensure the proper measures are in place.

The same is true for all backup offerings, particularly when delivered as part of a package by hosting companies or Internet Service Providers. It pays to find out exactly the level of backup on offer. SLAs should stipulate specific levels of data availability and set timeframes for recovery.

Tackling Common Issues

Live data presents a number of challenges for backup, particularly in the case of database files that are continuously being written to. Ensuring no changes are lost in the backup process can require considerable configuration. Blueberry can apply a number of optimization techniques to ensure continuous backup of live data.

Backing up Web or database servers can also be tricky. Traditionally, a list of folders is written to backup but this leaves data open to human error. A full backup is the failsafe option but with storage space at a premium, solutions that combine one full backup with subsequent incremental backups offer a cost-efficient alternative. One example is the incremental snapshot system provided with the Cloud-based Amazon EBS service.

Backing up in virtual environments demands a different approach from physical servers. The critical factors are storage availability, configuration and management. If these are properly addressed, the benefits can be considerable. Blueberry has experience in engineering unusual backup systems in virtual environments and mirroring virtual machines from one server to another.

Achieving high levels of redundancy usually requires two servers. This can be costly and companies should consider whether instant redundancy is really vital for their business. With solutions such as Amazon EBS, for example, a new system can be set up from a snapshot in just 30 minutes without the need for two servers. Redundancy of database servers is more complex to configure and usually requires some level of mirroring or replication. Blueberry Consultants leverages a range of tools and techniques to optimize this process. These include custom compression, encryption, data deduplication and incremental transfer approaches.

Tried and tested

Testing is often the missing link in backup strategies. The time and money invested in backing up data is too great to risk your recovery plan failing at the critical moment. Companies should schedule regular testing of their backup and restore processes. Cloud setups offer the most convenient test environment with the capacity to restore to a second server instance temporarily. Backup reporting tools can also help safeguard your data by tracking backup failures and determining their causes.

Conclusions

These reporting tools look at the whole data protection lifecycle. This type of holistic approach is perhaps the key to optimizing backup on an ongoing basis. The big picture is critical. You need to know your business, know your provider and know your limits in terms of budget, bandwidth and storage space before you go looking for a solution. This not only means analysing your data volumes and usage, but also assessing how well your current backup tools are aligned with your business priorities. And don't let technology stand in the way of these priorities. Whatever works best for your company can be made to work best for your IT systems.

Blueberry Consultants has a strong background in backup and redundancy projects. Assessing your specific backup issues from the outset, we can design a solution that works optimally with your IT systems and strikes the right balance between reliability, accessibility, security and cost.

Strategies for Data Backup and Redundancy
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Blueberry Consultants Ltd
http://www.bbconsult.co.uk/Expertise/CustomBackupSolutions.aspx
Tel: 0800 862 0555

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