Data Backup

Backup has been a fundamental element of IT solution for many years.

Data backup is crucial to your IT systems. Basically, if you do not have a full backup and something happens your business is in trouble. If you cannot get data back to its original state then you will not be able to operate as efficiently as you could before the failure.

In simple terms, backup is a copy of your whole IT system that should be taken at least daily and preferably continuously and saved to a second location on-site and a third location that can be stored or taken off-site.

Data loss will always happen when you least expect it and every business doesn’t think it will happen to them, but it will at some point. Data loss can occur when your IT hardware fails or during a ransomware attack. It could also happen through user error. This means you must be prepared for it.

Selecting the right backup strategy for your business is fairly straight forward and Unleashed are here to help.

There are three types of backup routines and we will explain each one:

Full

This is the most basic and complete operation. This is where you take a full copy of all your data, applications and save them to a secondary location. This can be a USB hard drive, second PC or directly to the cloud.

Incremental

This refers to backing up any changes that have been made during the course of the day. For example, if you take a full copy on a Sunday, then on Mon-Fri you would only be backing up the changes each day then on Sunday, you would do a full routine again.

Differential

This means you will only be backing up changed files since the last full routine, For example, if you run a full routine on a Sunday, the differential backup on a Monday will only backup the changed files for that day. The differential routine on a Tuesday will only backup the changed files from Monday and Tuesday and so,

In Summary

While Incremental and Differential may seem like the same thing in that both back up changed data. The incremental routine is based on the last full and incremental backup and the differential routine is based on the last full backup.

A typical strategy is based on full and incremental backups.

A good data backup strategy will protect and may even save your business.

Typically with backup we talk about a 3-2-1 rule. This is a very simple approach and easy to remember.

3 copies of your data

2 stores of your data on different media

1 copy stored off-site

Best Practices

1. Plan your backup stategy
2. Think beyond your PC’s and Servers – look at other devices within your business and on desktops
3. Backup critical data first
4. Give thought to how you store backups and where are they located
5. Backup is important but restore is more important – how do you get your data back to a ready state?
6. Test your backup and restores regularly, you never know when you will need them.

Technology does offer a solution. Backing up to the cloud is becoming cheaper and more available. However,  your data is your intellectual property. Do you really want to store that on a shared cloud server? A lot of the time you have no control over these servers, you don’t know how secure they are or who has access.

A good option is to create a hybrid solution. you still store your data on-site but send all data to the cloud. This then starts to form part of your disaster recovery and business continuity solution.

Unleashed have developed relationships with a number of backup vendors to help you to develop your backup strategy. For more information, you can have a look at Veeam, Altaro or Arcserve.

Whichever solution you decide upon, and no one solution fits all business. Unleashed can help. We can tailor a solution to your needs, requirements and budget.