The Importance of Email Backups

The Importance of Email Backups

Data backup is one of the most important, yet also often one of the most ignored aspects of IT. Maintaining data is absolutely essential to helping a business run smoothly, and imperative to any business continuity plan.

In talking about “backing up” data, we are referring to making copies of the most important files you have in your email. If the original copy is somehow lost, you then have a backup available in a different location.

Data loss can occur in a variety of ways. The most common causes include physical computer failure, some sort of accidental error, theft and disasters like fires and floods. Not only does data backup protect you in the event of these types of scenarios, but it also can help you to maintain more space on your email server for new messages and data that come in.

Ultimately, backing up your data allows you to avoid the time consuming (and occasionally expensive) process of restoring lost data. It takes little time at all, and is quite easy to do.

How to back up your email

So how exactly do you go about backing up your email messages and data? There are a couple effective strategies you can use:

  • By hand: The simplest method is to back up your data by hand. You can import your emails into a folder, which you can then drag and drop into a flash drive or external hard drive. Of course, if you have a significant amount of data to move, using this method could end up being time consuming, but it is free (not counting the purchase of the drive you use for backup purposes) and simple for smaller amounts of data.
  • Freeware solutions: Some types of software offer free versions for at-home use. This is a solution that keeps your emails safe and accessible, while backing them up at an offsite digital location. This also makes email migration easier. If you switch computers, you won’t have to start your email client from scratch again. Because you have an offsite backup that can easily be restored in any client, you can quickly pull in your saved emails and proceed as though you are still using the same device.

For more information about the benefits of regularly backing up your email and how to accomplish it, contact us today at IDMI.Net.