Redundancy: Always have a second one as a backup
This just seems to be the summer of technical hick ups. Last month my cell phone was on the fritz and then this month our internet router died. When you work in IT, you spend the better part of your time planning for failures, but most people do not do the same at home, even many technical folks. One of those critical preparations is redundancy – having secondary things set aside that can take over when the ones we rely on everyday fail – kind of like having a second pair of glasses when you lose your everyday pair (after all, you need to be able to see to find them again).
Why we need to think like IT when we run a home business
Most folks that work for a company, do not have the redundancies in place at home that they do at their job. This is because when it comes to tech at home, it is considered a luxury and for entertainment. On the other hand, at work, downtime becomes an expense. For small businesses, even a short or inexpensive failure can be devastating. At home, when there is a failure, we do something else until the repair person comes by to fix things.
However, when you run a home business, you need to step out of that mindset. You need to consider the tech that you at home as mission critical. Could you do without your printer for a week or two while it is being repaired? Could you do without your website while your ISP figures out why it has been down? Could you do without your computer for a few days while the folks at Best Buy replace the hard drive? Could you do without your phone while the fella at the Apple Genius Bar figures out why your battery is dying? Could you do without internet access at all?
More importantly, what would these interruptions cost your small business? How much of that cost could you bear and keep your business afloat? Should you have invested in some redundancy that could have been in the end, less expensive? Ultimately, we are talking about insurance – you pay for it in case of a fire or earthquake, so why not pay for some redundancy as well.
We always hope that our tech just continues to work, and frankly so do larger businesses and organizations. I have worked for large and small businesses and seen a lot of risk being taken. In my humble opinion far more risk than I would consider appropriate. The big difference is that large businesses and organizations can spread that risk out over many people and departments. When you run a home business, there is no spreading things out: it is all on you.
So if it’s all on you, what should you do?
First, there are many things you can do that do not cost a dime. The first one is to grab a note pad and make a list of all the things that you use for your business that require a power cord. That list is longer than you might expect, by the way. Do not forget things that are not always plugged in like your cell phone.
Next, consider how long you can do without that item without it costing you any business expense. Write that number next to each item. At this point, you might want to reorder the list so that the items with the shortest time are at the top. They are now in order of priority for you.
Sometimes doing this does not create a nice ordered list, I know. If you just have a few items, it may not matter much what order they are in, they may all be important. If so, you could also order them by what it would cost your business if you did not have them for a day or a week. The important thing is to consider what the most important items are because those are the ones you need to focus on.
While we are at it, instead of doing this with pen & paper, you should create the list in a spreadsheet called “Redundancy Checklist.” It may seem silly, but such a list becomes invaluable in case of theft, fire, or simply to hand to a repair tech who is wondering how things fit together. The better you document your tech, the faster your will be able to recover from a calamity. Having this list alone is already making you safer.
What to include on the list
Before going on, I would like to spend a couple of minutes on things people often forget because they do not actively use them daily like your cell phone. To do this, we need to think of how things are connected. For example, a computer is not a standalone device, so let us consider what is plugged into that power strip under the desk and go from there.
The router in the closet is often a forgotten piece of equipment but without it only one computer would be able to access the internet. It’s very function is to provide redundancy.
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com
The video conferencing camera, if you use one
The USB hub that you charge your phone on, etc.
External devices plugged into the USB hub like external storage drives, keyboards, mice, etc.
The printer or a scanner
Tablets and accessories like pens
The monitor, if you’re using a desktop computer
The power strip – yes, it can fail too
The Network Attached Storage (NAS) device, if you have one for your data
The network switch in the closet, if you are not using wireless
The router that shares out your internet connection
The modem that connects you to the internet
This should complete the basic chain to the internet from the input devices most people need to get their work done. If you have a specialized service business that requires unique equipment (for example, if you are a graphic designer), there may be more devices in that chain. You should make sure you include those for your specific business.
Adding redundancy
Now consider what you would replace each device with if it were suddenly gone. Most of us have an older computer still sitting around or have upgraded its tech over the years. Write those into each item on the list. Those are your redundancy items.
Before we move on to those items that do not have a replacement, you first need to confirm that all the secondary back-up items on the list are still operational. You should plug them in and turn them on. Are they functional, do they charge properly, do they have the necessary accessories, has the software been updated, are they configured properly? If not, that should be the next step: make sure they can work as stand-in replacements.
At this point, it may seem like this exercise has not accomplished much, but this is already way above & beyond what most home-based businesses will do – it is also more than many large businesses do. More to the point, it may be just enough to guarantee your business stays up and running in case of a failure. If so, congratulations. You are done,
…and it has not cost you a dime.
Redundancy for items that have no replacement
If you still have a lot of empty space in the replacement column, then you will need to consider how much that risk is worth to you. All businesses must consider risk, and tech risk is one of those expenses. Replacing a computer may not be difficult, but replacing a router is.
Coming back to my own nightmare from this month, I had two routers that I thought were ready to replace my failed main router. Unfortunately, one failed to start up at all, and the second did not work properly. It seems that since I used that router, I had done a lot of custom configuring to my network. While I could get one computer onto the internet, I could not get the others back up. Even getting that one computer up took a long time. The real kicker is that if you do not have access to the internet, how are you supposed to figure out how to get back on the internet? Most of us rely on an online search to find answers, but without access to the internet, that is not an option. You also need access to the internet to download updates, manuals, and reach tech support.
I was also under a deadline because this happened the day before our company would start a new online class for which multiple internet connections were needed. Therefore, I rushed to the store to purchase a new router, making sure it was the same brand as the one that failed with the minimum features I needed. With just a couple of hours to spare I was able to bring the network back up. That said, this required considerable technical work on my part. If we had to relay on a technician to come to our house (not to mention the pandemic), this would never have happened in time.
The bottom line is that this could have forced us to cancel classes at significant expense to the company. We had to weigh those costs against the cost of buying that new router. That is what you need to do for your equipment as well. Consider carefully which items you need to purchase replacements for.
Finally, after you acquire these, you should spend some time configuring them. Do not just leave them in the box as new (another common practice even in large businesses). You should be able to drop in the replacements immediately after a failure. Also keep the software and configurations on then up to date – this will force you to turn them on regularly to make sure they work. Healthy businesses replace redundant equipment at scheduled intervals to ensure uptime, so it might also be good to do the same for your home business if you can, maybe once a month.
You now have a list of critical tech redundancies for your business.
Adding new items to the list
This exercise can become expensive, so you might be asking why you would want to add anything else to the list. This is because even though you are now fully redundant, there is still more you can do that relates to redundancy. What would happen if you had a power outage? Or a network outage? I live in Southern California and with fires, earthquakes, and rolling blackouts, I have had my share of power and network outages. Speaking of networking, how do you keep your business up and running when you lose access to the internet?
Having redundant equipment is nice, but should you have more than that? To address that, there are some items that may not even be on your list but that perhaps should be:
A Second Keyboard
This should already be on the list, but people often ignore and extra keyboard (and also a mouse). I use a wireless keyboard, so every time the battery dies, I am reminded of this. A desktop computer without a keyboard is just a heavy paperweight.
A Second Monitor
This is another item people often consider non-essential, but just as with a keyboard, it is essential. That extra monitor also comes in handy when you drop your laptop and the screen is cracked.
A USB-attached drive
If you have a Network Attached Storage (NAS) or other large storage device that you need to store business data on (i.e. photographers typically have these), it would be a good idea to have a backup storage device as well. USB-attached drives, while considerably slower, can still serve as an inexpensive temporary file server for that data.
USB-attached drives are cheap and offer a convenient, albeit slow, alternative for when your main network storage location is not available.
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com
An Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS)
These are basically thick power strips with a built-in battery that is continually charged while power is on and continues to provide power when there is a power outage.
A Second UPS
While we are talking about redundancy, it is a good idea to put a UPS at every point in the chain to the internet. I have one on my computer, but also one in the closet where my switch, router and modem are. Having more than one also provides redundancy in case the battery on one dies and I can use the other one for what is most important (in this case, my computer).
An Extra-Long Network Cable
Most computers these days connect to the network wirelessly, but if that connection goes down, it helps to have a second and extra-long network cable you can use from the computer to the closet – a 50’ cable costs only about $25 and is a good item to have handy.
A Wi-Fi Hotspot
These can be purchased as separate units, but you can also add this feature to your existing cell phone. This will turn it into a Wi-Fi connection to the internet over the cellular network, a life-saver when your cable company takes your internet access down. This will work even if the power is out because your cell phone has a battery.
A Second Cell Phone
Most people trade their old phones in, even when they do not receive a discount for a new phone for it. This is a mistake. An old phone can quickly be reactivated when a cell phone is lost or stolen. Even without activation, an old phone can serve as a Wi-Fi connected mini-tablet in a pinch, or as mentioned above a Wi-Fi Hotspot, too.
Yes, you could consider these items over the top, but most of them can be used even when there is no failure. For example, a second monitor can extend the workspace on your main computer. Others like the extra-long network cable, are relatively inexpensive - why not keep one in the closet? So while these items may not be mission-critical, they are easy additions to the list. As mentioned before remember to make sure these items are configured and tested for functionality - that old phone is no good if it doesn’t work anymore.
Conclusion
Redundancy as part of a disaster recovery plan is an important part of IT in large businesses and organizations. It should also be one for small home-based businesses, but it seldom is. We do not always consider the technology in our homes mission-critical because it is our home, a place to relax and not think about the worries of work. When that home becomes a place of work (as it has for so many people during the pandemic), that mentality should also change.
I am not suggesting that everyone can make all the changes I mentioned above. Some home-based businesses are simply not profitable enough to afford them. If so, I would at a minimum recommend making a list in a spreadsheet and keeping a printed copy around (in case the printer or computer fails). That way you at least know what needs to be operational to continue running the business. It also comes in handy for a technician tasked with keeping your business up and running. As a matter of fact, it also comes in handy for your business plan, applying for loans, grants and taxes.
If you can afford to spend some money on having redundant items at the ready, please do so. Consider it the same way that you consider insurance. It is a necessary expense that even if you do not believe is worth it now, it will matter once the business starts to grow and become successful… and who does not strive for success?
