Summer storms can be brief but nasty, causing serious data loss or even permanent damage to your workstations and servers. Here are some tips from our Austin tech support team on how to survive the summer with your computers and data intact.

• Surge protection – A lightning strike can send a surge of electricity through your wiring and right into your computers. While surge protection isn't bulletproof, it can at least protect your hardware from numerous small-to-moderate surges. Check the indicator light periodically to make sure you're still getting adequate protection.

• Battery backup – If you experience a sudden brownout or brief power loss, you need to know that your computers can keep on running at least long enough for you to shut them down correctly. Invest in UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) devices to provide your computers with battery backup. The fewer units each UPS supports, the longer the battery power will last.  Units with AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulation) work the best, and may even stay on utility power during small brownouts or surges. 

• Data backup – Of course you should always back up your company's critical data on a daily basis, but in stormy weather you should be especially careful to copy the data so it'll be safe from floods, electrical fires, lightning strikes and other threats. Make backup copies onto removable media such as disks or tapes; at the same time, make an additional backup to a remote server.

• Remote access – If you're facing storm hazards such as flooding, tornados or hail, you may need to evacuate your employees or ask them to stay home. In that event, remote desktop or cloud computing technology could make all the difference between proceeding with business as usual or taking a painful productivity hit.

Our Austin IT business support experts can help you protect your systems against summer storms, from remote backup services to hardware purchasing guidance. Trust Gravity Systems to help you weather the storm!

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