Because even the A-Team can't find your lost data
A few years ago there was a Raiser's Edge organization whose building flooded during a hurricane, irreparably destroying all their hardware. They didn't have a solid backup plan, but they luckily found an old off-site copy of their data and only lost a few months of data instead of a few years worth.
Backing up your database is one of those things that everyone knows they should do. However, since backing up feels like a chore with no reward, creating a backup strategy falls by the wayside to deal with more urgent issues, like calming down the red-faced patron shouting at the poor new kid about his seat location. But like Baracus, I pity the fool who don't take daily backups!
Creating a backup plan is easy, so I encourage you to take a few minutes and set up a process doesn't break down when the database administrator is on vacation. There are four points to remember when creating your plan:
Back up your data - Use the Blackbaud Management Console or SQL Management Studio to create a backup schedule. Knowledgebase solution BB94455 can take you through doing it with the BMC; I promise it only takes five minutes.
Do it often - Set your schedule to run at least once a day, especially if you do a higher sales volume. Buying a bigger hard drive or more tapes is a lot cheaper than losing a week's worth of sales and memberships.
Take it home - You don't really have to take the backups to your house, but you definitely need off-site backup. In the case of the organization above, they took backups daily, but were keeping their backup tapes right beside the server. When the building flooded all of the backups were lost or damaged. It's crucial to take your backups somewhere safe. If you don't want to shuttle backup tapes between home and work everyday, you could hire Howling Mad Murdock to fly them in and out, or you can use online backup. There are some great online backup options like Mozy Home or Carbonite that offer unlimited space for $5/month and $50/year, respectively. There is Jungle Disk which uses the ultra-reliable Amazon servers and charges for the amount of storage you use ($0.15/GB per month, plus $.10/GB data uploaded). And of course there are the "enterprise" online backup solutions like Symantec online backup, which offer the same features and level of service as the folks listed above for an extra $400-500 a year.
Test it sometimes - Backing up twice a day won't save you if the backups are somehow being corrupted. This is rare but it happens, so at least once a month, attach the backup, run an Integrity Check, and make a quick cash sale or two to make sure everything is working.
Ahh, I do love it when a plan comes together.