the virginia gazette • williamsburg, virginia
july 11, 2012
ethos INFO - Making Sure Your Data is Secure By K.H. Queen
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urricanes, fires, viruses, accidental deletions, hardware and software failures happen. Like most savvy business owners, you probably have a system for backing up and recovering lost data. But your system may not work as well as you hope. Ethos Info can perform an independent security and recovery audit and advise you what steps to take to ensure that in the event of a crisis, you can seamlessly get your data back. “People would rather not think about system failure until something bad happens,” Ethos Info owner Marty Campbell says. “Seventy-five percent of people we audit thought they had a good backup strategy but we’ve found out they wouldn’t be able to recover quickly, if at all. We also help people calculate their cost of downtime so they know what they’re risking. It’s pretty staggering—a lot of companies are at risk where they would never be able to get some of their information back.” Campbell founded Ethos Info in 2011. Campbell and key engineer Jon Bentley together offer nearly 50 years of IT experience in the highly specialized field of protecting data. An Ethos Info audit is not a sales pitch. Ethos Info has extensive knowledge of software and hardware, but doesn’t push hardware on clients—so you can be comfortable with the company’s independent recommendations. Many business owners are reluctant to delve into security issues because they’re concerned about cost, says Campbell, who understands and addresses those concerns. Ethos Info recommends good, better and best solutions and even prioritizes what you should do first so you can make an informed decision about how to proceed. The audit also will tell you if your computer system is running at optimal efficiency and productivity for your business needs.
“We customize the audit based on the amount of work that needs to be done,” Campbell says. “If you’re a oneperson shop, we’re not going to charge you like you have five servers. After the audit, we recommend where people can get best value for their dollars. You can get security for your data to make you feel completely confident without spending an arm and a leg. You’ll have the assurance you can get your data back and that you don’t have any glaring vulnerabilities.” Guernsey Tingle Architects found that some improvements came with a low price tag and using equipment already in place. “Many of Marty and Jon’s recommendations involve how we can better utilize what we already have,” financial manager Dawn Hassan says. “By adding memory and upgrading our server virtualization software, we could tap into unused processing power and improve our server’s processing speed by 12-fold. As a financial manager, I really appreciate those budget-friendly solutions.” When you call Ethos Info, Campbell and her team will give you a free initial consultation to learn about your computer system and then will give you a quote for an audit. For the audit, Campbell first provides a complete inventory with serial numbers of your hardware, disc drives, software, virus protection and will store a second copy of the
information in a secure location with Ethos Info, Campbell says. “That’s the first information you need if you have to do any kind of recovery,” she says. Then, you’ll get an analysis of your system’s efficiency and productivity. Campbell will help you see whether you have the right equipment for your company’s work. For example, high capacity disc drives are designed for a different use than high performance drives, which cost three times as much and are five times as expensive to run. “We’ve been to companies that have these huge servers and it’s not possible to use what they’ve paid for,” Campbell says. So if you’re planning any kind of system upgrade, call Ethos Info first. “We want our clients to have all the information they need when they talk to a potential hardware provider,” she says. Next, Ethos Info will perform an exhaustive security risk analysis. “We’ll look at your network vulnerabilities,” she says. “We have been to a business where someone had left a network port wide open and anyone in the parking lot with a smart phone or other wireless device could have been able to get into that system.” Finally, Ethos will look at your backup and determine if the data being saved is complete … or corrupted. For example, if the processor attempts to back up data that is still in transit within the system, the file will be corrupted and unusable, Campbell says. The right software can address those concerns. Another key issue in recovering data is the similarity of the hardware running the recovered data. If your hardware crashes, it may be tough to duplicate that system and therefore, difficult to recover your data. “If you’ve been running a system for years, the ability to duplicate that old hardware can be virtually impossible,” she says. “You’re going to be down day after day while you try to rebuild that old system.” Ethos Info will create a virtual image of your server stored at a remote location so that after a hardware failure
and data loss, you can bring up that virtual clone of your computer and be quickly back in business, Campbell says. Duke Communications chose Ethos Info for two reasons. “First, because we are an information technology business ourselves, we have seen first hand loss of data disasters through the lens of calls to us for help from other businesses,” CEO Duke Diggs says. “We recognize the need for backing up our information system. Secondly, once again, because we are an information technology business ourselves and are therefore more susceptible to the ‘shoemaker with holes in his own shoes’ syndrome (i.e. we might not be rigorous enough in backing up our own data) we thought it prudent to bring in a second pair of eyes to review our inhouse backup procedures.” Ethos Info did find issues. “We were pleasantly surprised, and frankly shocked, by the chinks in our own armor discovered by Marty and Jon,” Diggs says. “We cannot thank them enough for their help in beefing up our own backup procedures.” Don’t wait for a hurricane, virus, blue screen of death or other crisis to cut your productivity. Call Ethos Info and get the confidence that your files are easily recoverable and your business can continue to move forward—no matter what.
in focus... ethos INFO 5300 Palmer Lane Suite 2F Williamsburg VA 23188 757.645.9121 www.ethosinfo.com
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