5 Key Points About Testing Backups

 Why are the key points to include in a backup testing strategy?

Most business owners are now well aware of the need for regular data backups to overcome unforeseen events such as natural disasters, system failures, ransomware attacks, or accidental deletion of data. A backup ensures that data will be restored in the event of such primary data failure. What most people may not have realized is the fact that backups can also become corrupted or lost. Such a situation when no proper backup is available will lead to loss of time and money and complete chaos. Mobile Computer Services, a managed IT company in Wake Forest, shares the importance of having a good backup strategy. 

1. What to test?

Businesses should primarily test their data backup by restoring files from the storage device or cloud. However, this alone will not suffice in the event of a hardware failure or a situation that could damage the whole IT environment. To overcome an electrical or hardware failure, the backup testing should ensure that new hardware can be quickly installed or a backup site is available for failover. 

Businesses should perform both full and partial backup testing and restoring. As repeated complete restoration testing would be expensive, testing the backup of vital data should be prioritized. 

2. How often should testing be done?

Most businesses perform backup testing once annually. However, data experts recommend testing backups of critical applications, data, and systems at least on a  monthly or even weekly schedule. Any new system or application upgrade should first be thoroughly tested before moving to production. New hardware upgrades often lead to application downtime and impact end-users badly.

3. How to make sure that backups work?

Businesses should know how long it takes to restore a backup from a remote site or cloud location. They should ensure that their recovery software can recover data from disks/tapes, remote data centers, and the cloud as expected. During a disaster recovery, physical movement or online movement of data backups will be challenging. Hence, these movements of data must be tested before such an incident to identify weak spots and provide risk mitigation.

4. Checking if recovery is effective.

Once the backup has been restored, it should be tested to make sure that the right data is available in the right place. Individual application experts should perform use case testing of their applications to ensure that the expected result is obtained. Business owners should ascertain that ransomware protections are enforced on the data obtained from remote data centers.

5. Ensuring data and processes are consistent.

Backups should be consistent across various departments of the business to ensure seamless interoperability of departments after a restoration has taken place. 

Taking redundant backups is a good idea. Cloud services generally never fail. However, using multiple services can help if one service becomes unavailable when a full backup restoration is required. In data centers, backups are done on multiple tapes/media, and all of these are tested and stored in different locations. These media must be replaced as soon as any wear and tear are noticed.

The IT support team should keep a record of all test results and share the lessons learned across the board. 

Why Mobile Computer Services?

Mobile Computer Services, a managed IT services company in Wake Forest, has a specialized team with a state-of-the-art backup and data restoration system that ensures the best safeguards for customers and the integrity of their data. 

Contact Mobile Computer Services, Inc. Wake Forest at (919) 230-2900 to avail the best data protection services available.

"Have you restarted the device?"

 

Why should devices be restarted regularly?

Technology is extremely important to everyday life now. People are increasingly spending more and more time on digital devices to get daily chores done. Laptops and computers have become indispensable parts of people’s lives. Hence the tendency to leave these devices on without rebooting or shutting them down is also very common. At the end of the day, it is a fact that these devices are machines and that they are prone to wear and tear. Mobile Computer Services, a professional IT services company in Raleigh, shares the importance of rebooting devices regularly. 

1. Improves performance

Performance can be impacted when computers have been running for a very long time. Common issues users face are: the opening of programs becomes slower, searches take longer than they should, functions such as drag and drop do not work, and the cursor gets stuck. These are indications that the system has become slow and needs maintenance. When rebooted, the computer’s operating system and memory get a clean slate which helps to solve many such problems. 

Computers have many moving parts. The CPU, the computer’s brain, has a fan. High-end graphic cards also need cooling systems to work. Shutting a computer down for some time helps to increase their lifespan. The only devices specifically made for long-term uptime with minimal restarts are servers.  Even such servers require regular maintenance to ensure they run effectively for long periods without a reboot.

2. Helps to stop memory leaks

It is very common for users to run into problems with the programs or applications on their computers. Every task done on the computer takes up memory. More open applications consume more memory. When the machine has not been shut down for a long time, applications start to freeze. Most users close or force-quit the programs and reopen them to solve the problem. However, this may not release the whole memory used by the program and leads to memory leaks. These memory leaks impact the performance of the system over time.

Rebooting resets the entire computer's memory and hence helps to prevent any leaks and increases speed. 

3. Improves network connectivity

Internet and Bluetooth connectivity can also be impacted in a system that has been running for a long time. Connections to wireless peripheral devices such as keyboards and mouse also may not work properly. Rebooting resets all connections and can clear up problems with wireless connectivity.

Another way to troubleshoot network connectivity issues is by rebooting the router. Rebooting cleans the router’s short-term memory or cache and keeps it running more smoothly. It allows the router to shed unwanted devices from the network and select the least crowded channel, which provides a stronger connection to the devices.

4. Completes updates and installations

New updates for the operating system are auto-downloaded and installed on the machine from time to time. These updates are generally not fully configured and applied until a reboot occurs. Hence, not rebooting a system makes it vulnerable without having the latest security patches applied. 

Rebooting ensures that any software or OS updates are properly installed, keeping the system secure from multiple exploits and threats.

So, the question remains, what is the minimum interval for rebooting computers? And the answer Microsoft gives is to reboot Windows PCs once a week.  It is also suggested to completely turn off devices when they are not in use for extended periods of time. 

Why Mobile Computer Services?

Mobile Computer Services provides worry-free PC and mac repair and 24/7 IT support for your business. A managed IT services company in Raleigh, Mobile Computer Services has On-call IT consulting experts who ensure faster repair of broken IT in a budget-friendly manner. The team gives the best customer care and eliminates the need to pay for services the customer doesn't want or need.

To learn more about on-demand IT services offered by Mobile Computer Services, Inc. Raleigh, contact the team at (919) 830-9448.

How To Recover An Unsaved Microsoft Office File

 

How To Recover an Unsaved Microsoft Office File

A lost document is a common problem in any workplace. The most common reasons are: it was mistakenly deleted, it was accidentally closed before saving, or the work was lost due to a software crash or power outage. Mobile Computer Services, a managed IT company in Wake Forest, shares the possible ways to retrieve and restore such lost Microsoft Office documents. 

One important point to note is that to retrieve an unsaved document more easily, it is better to avoid creating new data and new files on the same drive if possible. New data on the drive reduces the chances of recovery of a lost document. The following are solutions that can help in the missing document’s recovery:

1. Check the recycle bin

The first place to check for a missing document is the recycling bin. If the missing document is found there, right-click on it and click “Restore” to move it to its original folder. It can also be dragged and dropped/cut and pasted to any other location. If the document has been permanently deleted, it may still be possible to recover it using a data recovery wizard. An IT services company will be able to provide advice about the recovery of such data. 

2. Recover from temporary files

Word (and other Microsoft Office apps) has a feature called auto-save which saves temporary files at a certain location. To view the temporary documents, click the “File” menu, click on “Manage Documents” and select “Recover Unsaved Documents” from the drop-down list. A folder window opens which shows all unsaved Office documents stored as temporary backup files. Click on the required temporary file to open it and continue working on it. 

3. Using auto recover

Every time Word (or other MS Office apps) starts, it searches for files to be recovered by default. These files to be recovered are saved with a “.asd” file extension. To open these files manually:

• Click on the ”File” menu and click “Options”. 
• Then click “Save” on the page that appears. 
• Copy the “AutoRecover file location” shown. 
• Paste the location in the file explorer to open the folder where “. and” files are present.
• Copy the “.asd” file. 
• Go to the “File” tab on Word again and click “Open” and select the “Recover Unsaved Documents” button at the bottom. 
• Paste the “.asd” file that was copied into the “File name” box and click “Open”.
• If a warning is seen, try the same steps again to open the “.asd” file, but select “Open and Repair” this time from the drop-down menu next to “Open”. 

4. After a system crash

Reopen Word (or other MS Office apps) after restarting the machine. The software will automatically try to recover any unsaved documents before the crash. If it is not able to recover lost files on its own, try the methods of recovery using temporary files or via auto recovery as stated above. A professional IT support company can help in creating regular backups to avoid any such data loss. 

5. Configuring Auto-save 

Users can configure various auto-save features such as where the temporary files are stored, how often they are saved, and whether a temporary backup is taken when a file is closed without saving. To configure these options-

• Click on the “File” menu and click “Options”.
• On the “Options” page, click “Save” and then configure the “Save Documents” section. These settings will help to recover a document that was closed without saving. 

Why Mobile Computer Services?

Mobile Computer Services, a professional IT services company in Wake Forest,  in Wake Forest, provides reliable PC help and repair as well as online computer support, software help, computer help, IT Help, computer tech support, and computer diagnostics.

 

Call Mobile Computer Services, Inc. Wake Forest at (919) 230-2900 to know more about the IT support that one can rely on. 

Mobile Computer Services: Types of Data Breaches That Lead To HIPAA Fines

 

Data Breaches that cause HIPAA violations in dental practices 

As almost all data is now electronic, data breaches have become a significant threat to the healthcare industry. These breaches cause patient information to end up in the wrong hands. Any such unauthorized disclosure or use of PHI (Protected Health Information) is a HIPAA violation which can lead to large penalties. The highest annual penalty is $1.5 million per violation. A HIPAA violation can ruin the practice and tarnish its good name. Mobile Computer Services, a managed IT company in Raleigh, talks about the potential threats of data breaches and how IT consulting can help.

1. Hacking

Hacking is the main cause of data breaches in dentistry and other healthcare services. Hackers target ePHI and use these electronic medical records for the wrong purposes. 

Hacking can be prevented by:

1. Enforcing two-factor authorization for access
2. Storing files in encrypted form
3. Using strong passwords that are regularly changed
4. Not accessing data over a public Wi-Fi
5. Performing security risk analysis to identify threats and vulnerabilities

2. Data stored on unprotected devices

Medical personnel might use their own devices for work. These devices may not be password protected and data can easily be compromised in case of device theft. 

Effective methods to prevent such a data breach are:

1. Ensuring that data is not stored locally, but only on secure cloud networks
2. All data that need to be available on the device locally is encrypted and password protected
3. Ensure that data can only be accessed using a secure network which requires authorization

3. Ransomware

Ransomware is a software program that is received via spam mail or a malicious link. The software in turn downloads malicious code that encrypts the file in the device or locks the device. The owner of the device is asked to pay a ransom before a deadline for retrieving access to the files. Such ransomware or malware in a medical practitioner’s machine can cause huge data loss of patient records. A good managed IT services company can help prevent this by:

1. Ensuring all devices are protected by up-to-date antivirus software
2. Performing data backups regularly and storing the backup at a remote location for risk mitigation
3. Migrating all sensitive data to a secure cloud server

4. Improper disposal of records

When an electronic device needs to be repaired or is at the last stage of its life cycle, it has to be ensured that all patient data on it must be erased permanently. Data should not be present as retrievable files in the recycling bins.   

5. Use of personal email for office correspondence

Healthcare professionals may email ePHI to their personal emails. This could be to catch up with work or to have a detailed study of the case. However, emailing ePHI to a personal email address is a HIPAA violation though it seems to be a harmless routine practice. Ways to avoid such violations are:

1. Using a service that encrypts emails while being sent to the recipient
2. Using a cloud-based HIPAA-compliant email server where all senders and recipients have accounts. This prevents emails from going through external servers. 
3. Using an EMR platform that provides patient details so that the healthcare practitioner can log in and access the required data. This eliminates the need for emails to a personal mailbox. 

Why Mobile Computer Services?

Mobile Computer Services, a managed IT services company in Raleigh, has helped numerous healthcare practices safeguard their data by providing robust cyber security, email protection, and virus removal services.

Call Mobile Computer Services, Inc. Raleigh at (919) 830-9448 to know more about ways to bulletproof PHI.