You May Have a Backup, But Could it Be Better?

Data backup is important for businesses that want to keep their data safe in the event of a disaster scenario, but each organization’s specific needs will vary. One thing is important to keep in mind, though, and it’s that your business can’t afford to not have data backup. In other words, you need to be prepared for any situation so that you aren’t left wondering if you’re ready to deal with a disaster scenario.

Here are four major topics to consider the next time you’re thinking about whether or not your data backup practices are up to snuff.

Which Data Are You Backing Up?
How much of your data are you realistically backing up? The answer we are looking for is “as much as possible.” Granted, if you have legal obligations to back up specific information, those obviously have to be prioritized. The last thing you want is to suffer from compliance-based fines on your organization for not properly handling sensitive information.

Are You Protecting Your Data Backups?
The last thing you want to do is store your data backups in an unsecured location, particularly if that location is on-site. If a hacker attacks the network or you experience a crippling data loss disaster due to a natural occurrence, such as a fire or a power surge, any unprotected backups on your infrastructure will be destroyed as well. It’s true that having a backup stored on your network is helpful, but it’s equally important that you protect it and have an extra stored off-site for later access.

Where Are Your Backups Stored?
It might be convenient to have an on-site data backup, but it’s equally important to have multiple copies of it backed up. To this end, we recommend implementing the 3-2-1 rule. You keep three backups of your data altogether--one on-site for easy access, and two either off-site or in the cloud for easy restoration in the event of an incident.

Have You Tested the Reliability of the System?
If your backup systems don’t work, then why are you using them? You’ll never know until you try to restore your data, in which case it will be too late. To avoid this situation, you should frequently be testing your backups to ensure they work. Otherwise, you could be staring a disaster in the face and not have a solution immediately on-hand to remedy it.

Horne & Benik can help your business implement a Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution that takes frequent backups and stores them securely in an off-site data center for later recovery. To get started, reach out to us at (603) 499-4400.