Just because you back up a few files every day doesn't mean you can quickly resume work in the event of a disaster. That is exactly what Disaster Recovery is for.
WHAT IS A BACKUP?
In short, a backup is nothing more than a copy of your data (or your customers' data) in another location, such as on a different computer or in the cloud. A backup protects data against accidental deletion, theft, or technical issues (like a hard drive crash). Thanks to a backup, there is always data to fall back on. The rule here is: the more secure, the better. An important rule of thumb is the 3-2-1 backup rule. This means you should make 3 copies of your data, store them on 2 different types of media, and keep 1 copy in a different location.
Did you know you are 'only' four steps away from a rock-solid backup strategy? Read more about it here.
BACKUPS DON'T ALWAYS GO AS PLANNED
Due to human or software errors, a backup may not be performed correctly. This can even happen unnoticed. If the backup is not monitored, organizations can face an unpleasant surprise. Consider this situation: an organization has scheduled daily backups for a specific set of data. Due to unforeseen circumstances, their production environment goes down, and they want to use the latest backup to restore their lost data. They then discover that a backup software update caused backups to fail for the past few months. Since old copies are only kept for 30 days, the organization has now lost its data.
BACK UP WITH RECOVERY IN MIND
If you know which data you might need to recover, you know what to include in your backup. It sounds logical, yet it happens frequently that not all essential folders are included in a backup. During an actual recovery, organizations often realize they need other files or software as well. Always try to make an accurate assessment of all essential data.
BACKUP IS ONLY THE FIRST STEP
A good backup in a location other than your own is just the first step in business continuity. Step two is having the right recovery systems. This means having the appropriate servers, storage, and operating systems to use for data restoration. The recovery environment should, in effect, be a mirror of the production environment.
Step three is ensuring the right tools, processes, and people are in place when Disaster Recovery is needed. At Fundaments, we offer Disaster Recovery as a Service, and our Cloud Experts ensure you never have to experience downtime during a disaster.
DISASTER RECOVERY
Disaster Recovery is similar to a backup but goes a step further. With Disaster Recovery, you don't just copy a few folders; you copy an entire environment. The recovery environment is mirrored to the production environment. This allows for a faster switch from one environment to the other, without needing to set up a new environment or copy all files from one location to another.
We demonstrate exactly how this works in our Zerto demo. Click the button below to watch it. You can also download our free whitepaper, where we explain why Disaster Recovery is a must for every entrepreneur.
