5 Backup and Recovery Questions, Answered

Data backup is a critical component for businesses, as damage control is needed by just about any organization that has day-to-day interactions in risky environments like the Internet. Furthermore, some organizations are located in high-risk areas where natural disasters are a considerable threat. Regardless, there is one situation where all businesses need to be wary about data security, and that’s user error. Our point is that it doesn’t matter where your business is located or what industry it’s in; there will always be situations where data backup will be helpful, so consider how it must be implemented now before it’s too late.

What Disasters Are Likely?
As we mentioned before, some regions are more prone to natural disasters than others. If you can take preventative measures to ensure they have a significantly less catastrophic effect on your business, you can recover more quickly and effectively. For example, if you are able to plan for evacuation and loss associated with specific disasters, like a hurricane or tropical storm, you can keep valuable assets (your employees) safe and sound. On the other hand, if you deal with winter storms and freezing rain conditions, there is a high chance that ice could bring down tree limbs, causing power surges and electrical damage. It’s all about knowing what you’re up against and planning accordingly.

Which Parts Absolutely Need to Function?
Depending on what kind of business you run, you’ll have to identify which parts will absolutely need to function properly in order to avoid a complete loss of operation. For example, you may have to keep client services functioning while your organization is experiencing a disaster. After all, it’s in their contract, and a breach of such a thing will result in loss of confidence in your business. Even if your business recovers, without your patrons or data, it won’t mean anything.

Where Will Backups Be Stored?
Not only do you want multiple copies of your data, you also want to make sure they are stored in different locations. Keeping one in the cloud is practically necessary, as it reduces time spent on recovery by a considerable amount, but you should generally follow the 3-2-1 rule. This is when you have three total copies of your data: two on-site (one on the network and one in physical copy) and one in the cloud for rapid recovery.

How Much Data is Being Backed Up?
Otherwise known as recovery point objective, or RPO, the amount of data you recover in the event of a disaster will be critical to the success of your data backup solution. It should be a number that’s enough to get back in action as soon as possible, but not an excessive amount that could complicate the restoration process.

How Quickly Can You Restore Operations?
The recovery time objective, or RTO, is defined as the amount of time it takes to get back into a pseudo-normal operational situation. By this we mean a situation where you’re not taking a loss by keeping operations running during a disaster scenario. Storing data in the cloud and using a rapid recovery device like a BDR (backup and disaster recovery) unit can make this much more efficient and less time-consuming as a whole.

Does your business need help with implementing a data backup and disaster recovery scenario? SMART Services can help. To learn more, reach out to us at 586 258-0650 .