It happens like this:

1. The company has (what they think) is a competent IT provider.
2. The company is being told they are being backed up.
3. They company has been told their RAID-5 disk array will protect them from hard drive failure.
4. A drive fails.
5. A sub-contractor of the server manufacturer shows up (under supervision of their IT company)
6. Nobody knows how, but all of a sudden the data is lost
7. The backups are found and won’t restore
8. The company has lost everything

It’s not unusual for us to see this in one to two companies per month.

Look, tape doesn’t work. It’s the same technology that the hippies of the 1960′s used to record their music. Would you trust your iPod to tape? Worse, one of the potential clients we just met with lost all their data and they were backing up to removable disk cartridges.

The only thing that works is enterprise class, online, off site, automatic backup.

If you never want to lose your data, it only takes three things…

1. Develop the mindset that you will not rest until you see all of your servers restored to current working status on backup machines. This means…you take a fresh machine…install your backups over it…and EVERYTHING…hardware, software, users, everything…comes right back up and working. Depending on your comfort level with the first time you try this, you may want to repeat monthly, quarterly, or yearly — but in any event, regularly.

2. Understand that you will not do this successfully 100% of the time unless your data is always being moved off site without humans to change tapes, disks, or whatever. People fail. You must automate this process and have multiple humans watching over your backups to ensure that they are running…and you can not rely on people to never ‘forget’, ‘make a mistake’, ‘get sick’, or come up with an even more creative excuse.

3. Make sure that your backup provider understands your technology — if you’re a Microsoft shop, you need a Certified Partner. Bringing servers back from the dead isn’t intuitive or easy — unless you have experienced experts. If your backup provider is not also a competent IT provider, they may hand you a USB hard drive full of data and have no idea how to help you get everything back up and running after a restore.

If you haven’t moved forward with a provider, (or even if you have and they are not doing much to help you build comfort that you will be able to restore your data), fill out the form below.


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1. Server Administrator Username & Password – This can not be hacked or reset.  If they have it and you don’t, your only option is to rebuild your server from the ground up.
2. Network Router, Firewall, & Switch Usernames & Passwords – This hardware controls the traffic on your network.  A few minor changes and all network traffic stops.  That means no email, no internet, no access to shared company data.    
3. Domain Name: (yourcompany.com) – Make sure that your web page address is under your companies name and that you have the Username & Password to the registrar.  (i.e. Network Solutions, Go Daddy, etc. 
4. 3rd Party Applications – Usernames and Passwords for any 3rd Party Applications used on the network.  Accounting programs like QuickBooks or Mas90; CRM programs like Act!, SalesLogix, or Salesforce.  
5. Remote Access – Who has remote access? Why? What do they have access to?  How are they accessing it?  VPN, RWW, Log-me-in, GoToMyPC, other?  
6. Network Map – Basic Map of Network if Possible. This can be created from scratch, but any maps help to learn the ins and outs of the network very quickly.
7. Software Licence Keys – Do you own your software licence keys or did you rely on your IT vendor to procure them for you? Are you sure they are legal or are you using the same MicroSoft Office Product Key on all your computers. 
8. Usernames and Passwords – Almost everything in your office has a username and password, hardware and software.  Just because you have a username and password does not mean it is the master administrator username and pasword.  
9. Warranty Information  - What happens if your server hardware fails?  Is it still under warranty?  Do you have that warranty information?  If not this will be a long and costly process. 
10. 10.  Website – Username and Password for Hosting Account for your Website.  Your website is most likely hosted/stored somewhere out on the internet and not on your local servers.  Do you know where it is and the passwords to access it?

Script Name: Change DNS
Script Description: Sets primary DNS on Local Area Connection to X.X.X.X
Sets secondary DNS on Local Area Connection to X.X.X.X
Sets WINS on Local Area Connection to X.X.X.X

IF True
THEN
   Execute Shell Command
     Parameter 1 : netsh int ip set dns “Local Area Connection” static 192.168.0.242 index=1
     Parameter 2 : 1
         OS Type : 0
   Execute Shell Command
     Parameter 1 : netsh int ip set dns “Local Area Connection” static 192.168.0.240 index=2
     Parameter 2 : 1
         OS Type : 0
   Execute Shell Command
     Parameter 1 : netsh int ip set wins “Local Area Connection” static 192.168.0.242
     Parameter 2 : 1
         OS Type : 0
ELSE

All we needed to do was change the DNS and WINS servers, but if you need to either change them from static to DHCP, or change the static IP (one machine at a time please), here are 2 more scripts.

Script Name: Enable DHCP
Script Description: Enables DHCP on the local area connection

IF True
THEN
Execute Shell Command
Parameter 1 : netsh int ip set dns name = “Local Area Connection” source = dhcp
Parameter 2 : 1
OS Type : 0
Execute Shell Command
Parameter 1 : netsh int ip set address name = “Local Area Connection” source = dhcp
Parameter 2 : 1
OS Type : 0
Execute Shell Command
Parameter 1 : netsh int ip set wins name = “Local Area Connection” source = dhcp
Parameter 2 : 1
OS Type : 0
ELSE

Here is one to set static IP, subnet, gateway, DNS and WINS.

Script Name: Set Static IP
Script Description: Sets static IP, subnet and gateway on the local area connection.  The first address is your IP, the second is the subnet and the third is the gateway.
In this script it sets

IP=192.168.1.23
Subnet=255.255.255.0
Gateway=192.168.1.1
DNS=192.168.1.242
WINS=192.168.1.242

IF True
THEN
Execute Shell Command
Parameter 1 : netsh int ip set address “Local Area Connection” static 192.168.1.23 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1
Parameter 2 : 1
OS Type : 0
Execute Shell Command
Parameter 1 : netsh int ip set dns “Local Area Connection” static 192.168.1.242 primary
Parameter 2 : 1
OS Type : 0
Execute Shell Command
Parameter 1 : netsh int ip set wins “Local Area Connection” static 192.168.0.240
Parameter 2 : 1
OS Type : 0
ELSE

Hope that helps.  Thanks for reading.