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How to Fireproof, Waterproof, Crushproof Your Data

Jonathan Blum

Let me give it to you straight: You cannot be too cautious with your digital information.

That's because losing your business data could be the single most catastrophic event to hit your business.

But if what I see in my shop and the others I cover and work with are any indication, backing up our business stuff is just -- how can I be polite? -- a concept.

It's something we need to do, not something we actually do.

And then along comes Mr. Steve Jobs with his marketing magic wand. What is basically a simple hard drive is now branded as the "Time Machine." Suddenly backing up is, shock of shocks ... hip. People no longer glaze over when I talk about keeping data safe.

Click here for larger image.

There is a very interesting alternative to the Apple product, and I have been testing it for the last few weeks. At first glance, the Fire-Safe Data Storage Chest from SentrySafe. ($169), looks like waaaaay too much technology for the average small business. It lumbers in at about 21 pounds empty and is the size of a small counter top television. But think for just a minute about losing all your critical business data, and you'll see this product fills an interesting niche.

Never mind what we all hear so much about -- hackers or con artists who come into our businesses and steal. The physical computers themselves are fragile and very much at risk.

Your Dell(DELL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr)or Sony(SNE - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) can simply stop working. Power supplies, hard drives, motherboards all give up the ghost from time to time. Your Microsoft(MSFT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) or Symantec(SYMC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) software can become hopelessly corrupted or lost; its identifying numeric keys that allow it to function can be mucked up or destroyed. Your computers can be maimed by fire -- it happened in my garage last summer -- vandalism or an act of heaven knows what.

And that ignores the ultimate devil looming for hardware: construction crews. If you see men or machines with hammers and tools near the building, it is time to get right with backing up your stuff. One errant hammer blow and dust cloud and your business, my friend, will be time-warped back to a digital 10,000 BC.

Traditionally the way to protect against all these risks was not only to back up your data on outboard hard drives, but also to strike a deal with on offsite data back company. Many companies such as Ibackup, EVault, Mozy, Iron Mountain(IRM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Norton provide online back up services.

But SentrySafe takes a different approach. The Rochester, N.Y.-based company, which has been building fireproof enclosures and lock boxes since 1930, has created what it claims is a fireproof and waterproof container for outboard data storage and your system discs. Now, obviously, if you are going to make a box that won't melt at 1,550 degrees or will stay waterproof submerged for 24 hours, it is going to be a bit of a beast. And that's exactly what you get with the Data Storage Chest.

Set up is dead easy, if a bit like a trip to the gym. Simply plonk the monster down on a desk -- better be a strong desk -- get out the secure key, open the coffin-like lid, stick in a USB drive into the connector on the inside, and run another USB plug to your computer. Identify that drive as your backup drive on your backup utility (check in your operating system, Norton or broadband vendor).

Take all your system disks like your Windows or Mac OS, your Microsoft Office disks, Quark, or other data files, and slide them into the supplied sleeves. You should have enough room to store 60 discs and about another 12 or so USB flash drives. Then simply run a backup from your software, close the lid, lock the cover and put the key in a safe place.

Voila! Your business is a fireproof, nearly bombproof operation.

Love that.

Now, there are several issues.

You still are going to need to keep track of your software keys. Those are the really long, hard to type, numbers that come with your software discs that identify you to your computer and your vendor. You will need to copy them by hand -- copy machines tend not to work -- and keep that copy near the discs in the safe. Do that very, very carefully. If one digit is wrong you have lost your investment in your software.

Also, the Data Storage Chest is not a networked device. This unit only runs via a direct USB connection to a single computer. With a bit of tinkering, you can make other computers back up to this unit, but that can become a pain in its own right. So if you have lots of machines and data, you will need lots of chests. And at $170 per unit for what is basically a fireproof file drawer, these systems are not exactly cheap.

But still, having lived through a fire near my own office, I can tell you that having one of these babies around would have made events a whole lot less stressful.

An ounce of digital protection -- or more like 20 pounds of it -- is worth many, many pounds of cure.