Storm Season Is Here: Protect Your Office Computers and Data

If you've run a business around the Puget Sound for a while, you know the pattern. Fall arrives, the wind picks up, a few big trees come down on power lines, and suddenly half the neighborhood is dark. The November 2024 "bomb cyclone" left hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in western Washington without power, some of them for days.

Storms are not something you can control. What you can control is how much they disrupt your business. A few simple steps now can be the difference between a quiet day off and a week of lost files, broken equipment and frustrated customers.

Why outages are hard on computers

When the power cuts out suddenly, computers don't get a chance to shut down properly. Files that were open can be damaged, and a server or network storage device that loses power in the middle of writing data can end up with a corrupted drive.

The bigger risk often comes when power returns. Electricity can flicker on and off several times, and those surges (quick spikes in voltage) can damage power supplies, modems, routers and anything else plugged straight into the wall.

Step 1: Put the important equipment on battery backup

A UPS, or uninterruptible power supply, is a box with a battery inside that sits between the wall outlet and your equipment. When the power drops, it keeps things running for a few minutes, long enough to save your work and shut down properly. Most also protect against surges.

Focus on the equipment that matters most:

• Your server or network storage device, if you have one
• Your modem, router and main network switch, so the internet stays up as long as possible
• Computers used for accounting, scheduling or other critical work

UPS batteries wear out over time, usually after a few years. If yours beeps, shows a warning light or no longer holds a charge, replace the battery before the storm, not during it.

Step 2: Make sure your backups are current and off-site

A backup sitting on a drive next to your server is helpful, but it's in the same room, on the same power and exposed to the same leaky roof. A good plan keeps at least one copy of your important data off-site, either in the cloud or at another location.

Take a few minutes this week to check:

1. When did your last backup actually finish? Not when it was scheduled, but when it completed successfully.
2. Does it include everything important: shared folders, accounting files, email and any line-of-business software?
3. Has anyone tried restoring a file recently? A backup you've never tested is a guess, not a plan.

Step 3: Plan how people will keep working

If the office loses power for a day or two, could your team work from home? Think it through before you need it:

• Can staff reach email, shared files and key programs from outside the office?
• Do laptops get charged and taken home when a big storm is in the forecast?
• Does everyone have the phone numbers they need written down somewhere other than a computer?

It also helps to know who to call. Keep your power company's outage line and your internet provider's support number handy, and bookmark your utility's outage map on your phone.

Step 4: Shut down safely and power up carefully

When a major storm is on the way and you know the office will be empty, it's often smart to shut down computers and unplug equipment that isn't on surge protection.

When the power comes back, give it a few minutes to settle before turning everything on. Start with the modem and router, then the server or storage device, then the computers. If something won't start, makes unusual noises or shows error messages, stop and get help rather than restarting it over and over. Repeated restarts can make a damaged drive worse.

The best time to prepare for a storm is on a calm, dry afternoon.

We can help you get storm-ready

GNTI has been helping businesses in King, Pierce and Kitsap counties keep their computers and networks running since 1999. We can review your battery backups, check that your data is being backed up properly and off-site, and help you set up secure remote access so your team can keep working when the office is dark.

Learn more about our Data Backup and Network Upgrades & Troubleshooting services, or contact us to get your office ready before the next windstorm. Call Seattle at 206.569.4684, Tacoma at 253.267.6727, or email support@gnti.com.