Question: When to buy a new computer
Posted: May 05, 2008 » by Lead Architect » in Tips and Support
Customer Question: When do you decide to buy a new computer?
At Netdrafter, a US-based web development firm, we try to cycle out and replace machines every three years, as well as have an extra machine sitting around for emergency use. While the overall health of the system components is important, we’ve found that the health of the file system is the critical element in keeping our business running.
We had a near catastrophe a few years ago when lightning stuck a facility that was temporarily housing some of our machines. The story of how the machines were saved is online at: http://www.netdrafter.com/blog/news/data-loss-lighting-wake-up-call/
From that point on, we’ve employed an inexpensive but very effective backup process. Our data protection process is detailed at: http://www.netdrafter.com/blog/support/protecting-data/. We probably go overboard, but I wanted to be sure we had backups for our backups, so we’d never totally loose or have to wait for data.
I’ve personally tested a variety of online backup methods and settled on Mozy Pro. (We like the service so much we became an affiliate! See: http://www.mozy.com/?ref=3f9a896b&kbid=39748&m=5) It incrementally sends copies of files to a secure online server for any Internet connected machine. It is very affordable, small file recoveries can be done via email, and you can also get a full backup sent to you on DVD via FedEx. (I recently had this done to have yet another backup lying around.)
Machines and parts will come and go. My advice is to protect your valuable data and make machine upgrades a secondary initiative.
Send your customer questions to: support@netdrafter.com!