This page will discuss:
- The UMC Policy as regards data backup and recovery
- What is a data backup
- What is a data recovery
- What is the reason for backing up your data
- What is DIS responsibility in this process
- What is your responsibility (as the customer) in this process
- Our recommended procedures for:
- Identifying your data
- Locating your data
- Backing up your data
- Restoring your data
Per the UMC INFORMATION POLICY - SECTION 4.4.2, the end-user is responsible for the backup and recovery of all files stored on any Local Drives. The Computer's Local drives are: C: Drive, D: Drive and E: Drive.Effective Tuesday, January 2, 2007, the Division of Information Systems (DIS) will no longer attempt to recover any files stored on any Local Drives.
- Operating system files (i.e. XP, Windows explorer, Novell, etc.)
- Print function, re-install print capabilities
- User Profile, (Internet Explorer Favorites, Desktop Icons, etc.)
- Delivery of Network Application (user installs applications)
- Network drive connectivity (U-drive, Shared drives)
What is meant by the term "data backup"?
A backup is simply a copy of a computer file located somewhere other than the original location. You should never backup files to another location on the c: drive. If your backup copy is on the c: drive, perhaps in a different folder, and the c: drive crashes, you will lose both copies of the file. DIS cannot restore these files if they are lost or corrupted. CD's or floppy disks are good places for backup copies of files. Backup copies should be updated often so that a minimum of data will need to be recreated if the original is lost or corrupted. If your files are on a network drive, like your personal (u:) drive or a shared (g: or p:) drive, DIS runs a backup of those files every night. It is not necessary to make a backup copy of files stored on a network drive. DIS can restore them if they become lost or corrupted.
What is meant by the term "data recovery"?
A data recovery is putting data back where it was before it was either deleted by accident or backed up intentionally. In the case of the backup, the data may still be in it's original location, but it may be unreadable or have been altered to a state that it is desirable to have an earlier version instead of the current. In this case, the recovery process will overwrite the current file with the version that was backed up previously.
Why should I back up my data?
You may want to have your work files and some of your personal bookmarks available to you should your PC ever crash (hard drive failure) or if you PC should ever need to be "restaged" (hard drive is wiped clean). Without a backup from which to restore your data, it must all be recreated from scratch! We can all imagine how this would impact our jobs.
What is DIS' responsibility in this process?
If you are routinely backing up your data or working in applications that save your data to a "network drive, (this would be, for example your U: drive or a shared departmental network drive), DIS will back these files up for you on a nightly basis.
On your local machine:
What am I, the customer, responsible for in all of this?
Simple.
- Any data stored on C-drive or other local storage (My Documents, Groupwise Archive, etc.)
- Any user created functions (short-cuts, hotkeys, macros)
- User or local installed applications
- Identify the data that is important to you to continue to perform the duties of your job.
- Locate this data on your PC.
- Routinely perform a physical back up this data either to a removable storage media or device (such as CD, DVD, Thumb-drive or Network drive)
- Store this media in a safe, secure location.
Our recommended back up procedures:
Identify data = What programs do you use routinely to perform your job? What follows is a list of the most commonly used programs and their associated file name extensions. (Extensions are the 3 letters that follow your filename. For example - filename.ext) For a list of common file extensions used at UMC click here.
Locate data = At a minimum, you should check the following path: - C:/Documents and Settings/your login name/My Documents/ You should check your programs' default file location (where the program saves your work files automatically). For example, In MS Word, if you look under the Tools/Options menu, then look under the File Locations tab, you may see that Word is saving your documents automatically to your My Documents folder as shown below. (Hint: This might be a great time to change it to your U: drive! Click on the Modify button to do so.)
Backing up your data = If the quantity (volume) of your data is not too large, 10 to 20 to even 30 Megs (MB), you would probably save yourself a bit of trouble simply copying them to your U: drive or Shared drive on the servers. (most preferred)
If you have a CD or DVD ( next preferred!) burner on your PC, you may be able to copy all of your data to one or more discs. Simply locate the files and, using the CD burning software, copy those files to the disc(s). If you have a 'thumb drive' and the amount and size of the files are not too large, you may be able to back them up to that device. Floppy discs are the least preferred as they do not hold much data at all.
You may wish to use the MS Windows Backup utility. (least preferred) It functions much the same as using Windows Explorer to locate and copy files except that it compresses these files much more giving you more room on the backup media. It will also automatically restore files to their original locations if desired.
Restoring your data = If you are using removable media, simply copy the files from the media to the desired location on your hard drive. If the data already exists, you'll be prompted to choose to either overwrite or cancel. If you use the Windows Backup/Restore utility, follow its instructions to recover your data.
The Help Desk will gladly answer questions as they apply to these instructions and policy but CANNOT assist in the recovery of your data. Please follow these guidelines and you should have no problems.
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