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LEGAL&LEGISLATION; (continued from page 10) This 3-2-1 plan is based on the concept of redundancy. The multiples suggested for copies, media, and locations provide protections against almost any loss risk, as described below. EXAMPLE 1: Imagine you have an essential accounting software fi le folder on your controller's desktop computer. That is copy one. Make one copy on a CD-ROM and put it in a fi le cabinet. That is copy two. Now make a copy of the fi le on a USB thumb-stick and store it in your briefcase or purse. This example meets all three criteria. Three total copies of the fi le. At least two different media types – hard drives, optical CD-ROM and fl ash drives – are used. And one of the copies is located off-site. EXAMPLE 2: Your daughter got married and you were e-mailed a wonderful photo of the father/daughter dance. You opened the fi le in your photo software and made a quick adjustment; therefore copy one now resides on your local computer. You make a copy of your digital photo library on a USB hard drive, and you store that next to your computer. That is copy two. Finally, you place another copy on a secure cloud-based storage service such as DropBox or other comparable service. That is copy three. In this example, three copies exist and one is off-site. However, the industry standard would argue that since only one form of media (hard drive) is used, even if there were two different hard drives in use, this example fails the 3-2- 1 test. We wouldn't grade this example quite as harshly though, especially since backing up something as large as a photo library to anything other than a portable hard drive is diffi cult due to the size and time. Also, because the offsite copy is on a reputable company's server, many in the tech industry would count this as a second form of media, because the backup service providers have their own back-up procedures in place. More More on offsite storage Although you can still meet the 3-2-1 requirements by using your own equipment, the easiest way to meet the offsite criterion is to use one of the many "cloud" backup services, such as CrashPlan, Carbonite, or DropBox. The "cloud" refers to storage through the Internet, rather than having the item in question being stored locally on a computer or other medium. The advantage to the cloud is that the item, whether it is data, photos, music, or software programs, can be accessed and used from any computer and in any Internet-available location. When it comes to cloud- based storage, the services vary in cost. At the least expensive end, small amounts of storage can be obtained for free. However, even for the amounts of data that most businesses and families generate and use, there are many services that are very affordable, usually less than the cost of an extra drive on a yearly basis. And even more importantly, many of them can be set up to back up your data automatically, which relieves one of the greatest complaints for computer users. Czars, or Who Controls the Data In our offi ce, one employee has been tasked with being responsible for data back-ups. He set up the program, which involved installing portable hard drives at every work station (along with the automatic back-up software), and arranging for both physical server redundancy and off-site back-up storage. We delegated these tasks to this "backup czar," who verifi es that the back-ups are operating on a regular basis, to make sure our fi rm's 3-2-1 plan is being followed. Among the key steps, this employee makes sure the back-up drives are functioning, as it does no good if the USB hard drive stopped backing up three weeks ago because the drive was full. We found that if backing up essential data was left entirely to the individual employees, the necessary steps would get put off, and the data security would fall through the cracks. Continued on page 14 VOLUME 45 ISSUE 6 2012 13