Passwords are the worst

Why is it the simplest security the toughest to get right? We still leave our cars idling outside the dry cleaners, we still leave our kids sleeping in the back seat while we dash into the bank, we still let out newspapers pile up when we’re gone for the week-end, and we still stick our passwords under our keyboards.

The What’s My Pass website provides insights, as well as laughs, as they list the 500 worst passwords of all time.

Why backup power?

None of us can get along very well in our modern world without electricity; especially small businesses. The things that need that power are, for the most part, our technological tools: the cash registers, the phone systems, the desktop computers, the Internet access firewall, printers, scanners, faxes, and the servers. Thank goodness for cell phones, but they don’t obviate the need for power backup for the most fragile and at-risk item; the servers. The unexpected crash of the local power source can have disasterous effects on your data repository.

For small and medium businesses (SMB) the risk avoidance strategy is simple and obvious. Install uniterruptable power supplies (UPS) for the most sensitive machinery. UPS’s come in a variety of sizes to meet the needs of the applications. A UPS rated at 750 watts costs about $250 and should keep your server up for about 30 minutes (don’t forget to make sure that the monitor and KVM switch are included in your power backup). The correct configuration should include the data connection to the server so if the UPS reaches the end its battery capacity (the outage lasts longer the the battery) that the UPS can shut done the server gracefully. Hopefully, this will keep any data corruption to a minimum.

Data corruption will happen any way. Your users had files open when your shop went dark. Unless you install a UPS on each workstation and the network equipment, those files will almost undoubtedly corrupt when they are suddenly and forceable shut down. The business continuity plan / disaster recovery plan (BCP/DRP) needs to take into account the requirement for a  data backup system like Shadow Copy from Microsoft, that allows the server to recreate those potentially lost files. Most newer applications have a like utility to protect these open files, but not all of them; particularly line-of-business (LOB) applications from smaller manufacturers.

I have found that having a simple DRP for your company and testing every six months is the best medicine. It should include things like what should the users do with their computers in case of power outage (turn them off), what happens when the UPSs shuts off the server (test it regularly), and how do you deal with (and who deals with and are they trained to deal with) corrupted files. The power grid is not perfect and it will have disruptions. I have a customer that has a significant power outage (longer than 30 minutes) once a quarter in his location. It is a simple task and relatively inexpensive to insure that you will survive a significant power disruption when it happens.

Power disrution is only one of the risks that your business faces. To learn more about about how to insure that your company can survive a disaster, go to Disaster Recovery World.

A great idea – I wish I could take credit for it.

In perusing my various small business, e-mails and LinkedIn resources, I came across this blog post from Lewis Howes, President of Sports Networker: 11 positive outcomes from hosting a networking event. It is a great idea for most small business folks looking for a way to get their name into the public. I’m going to give this a try early next year. Hoo-rah!