Hurricanes have the potential to cause massive destruction. That’s why developing a plan in advance provides much-needed peace of mind. We’ve put together a hurricane checklist to help you protect your business systems and data. Most Orlando residents may know what supplies to purchase and how to prepare our homes. However, many don’t give thought to the importance of preparing their technology and digital information for a hurricane or other natural disaster.

 

How to plan ahead?

Hurricane activity peaks every year in late summer, when tropical cyclones form across the northern Atlantic Ocean. Some storms hit North American coasts causing millions of dollars worth of damage to families and businesses. Along with the tragedies, there are stories of lost data due to damage to tech appliances, and entire businesses turned to rubble. Businesses must always have a backup plan to protect their data from storms and other natural disasters. First and foremost, we always suggest having a Disaster Recovery Plan ready by Managed IT Service Providers, like Far Out Solutions.

 

Far Out Solutions’ tech team knows how to protect your technology from natural disasters and has its list of things to do before the storm, and on the list of priorities is data protection. Along with a Disaster Recovery Plan, a Business Continuity Plan is a blueprint for how businesses plan to serve everything from local equipment failure to global disaster.

There are two most precious assets to protect regarding technology:

1. Data
2. Devices

 

How to protect Data from a natural disaster?

Your personal and business data should have backup copies made frequently. Besides a hurricane, anything can happen to an office building or home at any time so on-site and off-site backups should be made and stored in a secure location. Backing up files within your data center is a good precaution against computer failure, but it is not effective if the entire data center is damaged by a hurricane. You should consider storing irreplaceable workplace data in offsite backup services.

You also want to maintain hard copies of mission-critical business information such as personnel, financial and legal documents, so they’re available during cleanup while your IT infrastructure might still be offline.

 

On-site and Off-site Backup

An off-site data backup is a nice option if the storm threatens to hit hardware devices storing critical data. Some Managed Services companies like Far Out Solutions, make sure that their data centers are stored in mainland areas, where natural disasters rarely occur. Off-site backup can protect against a whole range of disasters, storms, fires, and even ransomware attacks.

 

On-site backup is a system backup of data that is stored locally. Local backups are useful for protecting data from theft, computer errors, or ransomware attacks. On-site storage usually entails storing important data on local storage devices, such as hard drives. Off-site storage requires storing important data on a remote server.

 

On-site storage has some advantages over off-site storage, including:

1. Immediate access to data
2. Less expensive
3. Internet Access is not needed

However, on-site storage has one disadvantage over off-site storage. In the event of a catastrophic event, on-site data storage can be destroyed. For instance, if there is a hurricane that hits the building, the on-site servers can lose all the data that has been collected on them.

How to protect Devices from a natural disaster?

Your computers, servers, and other equipment are expensive and important to the efficiency of your business. First and foremost, to get them ready for a hurricane or other potential environmental threat, first move any technology away from windows and other areas vulnerable to wind and rain. All technologies should be kept in a closet or other windowless room.

Smaller devices can be placed under sturdy desks or other furniture that can withstand falling debris or strong winds. However, electronic devices should never be placed on the floor, because in an event of flooding all technology will be ruined. After a storm, take caution with devices that were exposed to water, because they may need cleaning and drying by an expert before being used.

There are other tips to consider:

1. Shut down computers and unplug machines and power surges;
2. Unplug Ethernet cables from computers;
3. Power off printers or any other accessories;
4. Use dry bags to wrap electronics in plastic to ensure some short-term protection

Summing up

Here are some tech recommendations from Far Out Solutions to sum up do’s and don’ts and be ready in the event of any natural disasters. If you need further help with preparations or Disaster Recovery Planning, contact us at info@faroutsolutions.com or (888) 388-5441

 

Do’s 

1. Conserve your mobile’s battery by existing out of unused apps
2. Turn on power-saving mode on your mobile
3. Shut down every computer and unplug electronics
4. Proceed on-site or off-site backup for important files or data. Be sure they are accessible from anywhere.
5. Use dry bags to wrap electronics
6. Keep electronics in the safe area (ex. Top desks, high and dry locations)

Don’ts

1. Forget to back up important files
2. Leave electronics plugged in

A recent study discovered that of companies experiencing a major loss of computer records after hurricanes, 43% never re-opened, 51% closed within two years of the loss, and a mere 6% survived over the long term. These statistics suggest the necessity of having a Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Strategy to avoid major business losses.

Far Out Solutions’ specialist Disaster Recovery Consulting Team can help you devise a near bulletproof Disaster Recovery Plan so you can have peace of mind that your critical systems are safe and sound from any potential threat.