THE NEED to back up agency data isn't a new topic, but developing technology is constantly presenting new backup problems-and backup solutions. Since we purchased our first computer system in 1983, we have experienced more than one of both. A description of our experience may be of use to agencies trying to identify their backup needs and find the right technology to fill those needs.

Since that first computer purchase, we have lost all our agency data when our system crashed...four times. Anyone who has been through this knows the terror that one experiences while the system restoration is under way and a full data recovery is uncertain. We were fortunate to have our data restored each time, though not always from the immediate, on-hand backup tape. (Sometimes the backup tape was defective, even though the system told us backup had been successful.)

We originally used a rotation of two sets of weekly tapes, keeping one set off-premises during its "off-use" week. Later, we added a monthly backup tape, keeping 11 previously backed-up tapes offsite, "just in case." We still kept extensive paper documentation of agency transactions, using a transactional filing system and our agency management system to locate particular paper files. We were satisfied with the ability of our tape backup system to meet such needs.