What Businesses Need to Know About Backup and Recovery

Data Backup and Recovery for Businesses

In this digital era, we see businesses evolving even better than large companies. This is especially true when it comes to embracing technology. But with technology comes the risk of having everything on the internet. However, that’s the way of business now. So, as a business, take solid measures to protect your data and have it restored in case something goes wrong.

Many businesses still use a traditional data backup approach, thinking that modern backup solutions are expensive. Some businesses believe that their data isn’t valuable to anyone outside the organisation. If you fall into that group, think again! Why are we witnessing a rise in cyberattacks on businesses? Data is valuable, no matter the size of the business, and a threat to data can mean the end of the business.

The threat can come from inside or outside the organisation, intentional or accidental; no matter the form, your business is at risk. So, the best way is to protect your data and keep copies of it.

What is Data Backup?

In simple terms, data backup is the practice of making copies of your business data and storing them in another place. The data is kept safe to prevent major disruptions to the business in case something goes wrong. Backups can be stored either on-premises or off-premises and in the cloud. Offsite data backup is a crucial part of managing data securely.

What should you Backup?

All your work-related data needs to be protected. This includes documents, media files, images, customer information, operating systems, and registry files. However, not all data is critical, meaning that losing them wouldn’t cause much harm to you or your clients.

Types of Data Backup Used by Businesses

1. Traditional Media: This is the oldest way of data backup. Only the most important data was stored on removable media such as tapes, CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray disks, or flash drives. Storing data on such fragile media can be risky. We know of businesses that are still looking for CDs and flash drives containing important data. We’ve also seen CDs that can’t be read, no matter what you do.
2. Standby systems: Here, we’re talking about an additional hard drive that’s a copy of a critical system’s drive or a fully redundant system. This system acts as a backup that’s activated in case of an emergency. Standby systems can be complex to maintain.
3. External Hard Disk: Many businesses prefer this method, where you back up your files on an external hard drive. However, this isn’t the best way. Firstly, it has to be connected to the local network, which poses security risks. Secondly, as your business grows, this method won’t suffice.
4. Hardware: In this data backup method, an entire backup appliance is used. It looks like a rack full of hard drives with a system for transferring and updating data from the existing environment. However, space can be an issue with this type of backup management.
5. Software: This kind of backup management is flexible but can be complex to set up. Software-based solutions can work intuitively and even automate the process.
6. Cloud-based backup:Backup as a Service (BaaS) is a popular backup management service. In this case, you back up your data on a public or private cloud provided by a backup solution provider. The compliance of the cloud service provider with regulations and standards is crucial to the safety of your data. Only a highly professional backup solution provider should be chosen. Cloud backup can be Direct-to-cloud (copying from local or offsite to a cloud environment), cloud-to-cloud (backing up from one cloud to another), or BaaS.

Key Concepts in Data Backup Management

1. Backup Solutions and Tools: While backup management can be done manually, most businesses use technology solutions to manage this process.
2. Backup Administrator: Every business needs a dedicated person to handle the details of backup. It can be an employee or a Managed Service Provider.
3. Backup Schedule: This is where you plan a schedule and determine which data needs to be protected.
4. Recovery:This is a critical aspect. You need to know how long it will take to restore data and what data will be recovered. Recovery is essential for the smooth operation of any business.

The 3-2-1 Rule for Managing Backup

As it stands, the rule states that a business should have three copies of its data at any given point in time. Out of these, two should be on two different types of storage, and at least one copy should be offsite. Earlier, it wasn’t easy to follow this rule, but modern providers allow you to choose between different data centre locations or even multiple data centres, which means you can implement a 3-2-1 architecture using only one vendor.

What is Data Recovery?

Data recovery is the process of getting data from a backup. This might mean copying data from backup media to an existing device or a new device. It could also mean copying data from the cloud to a local device or from one cloud to another. Every business needs a disaster recovery plan to help it quickly resume operations after an unexpected event. Most backup providers have a disaster recovery plan in place.