3 Myths of Data Backup That Need to Be Busted

Data backup is foundational to every business continuity plan. Despite this, many businesses don’t realize that data backup and disaster recovery are two very different solutions. This oversight could leave a company high and dry in the face of a disaster causing data loss.

To help clear things up, let’s dispel three myths that many have about data backup and disaster recovery.

Myth #1: Having Multiple Copies Guarantees Successful Backups
While it’s true that it’s a best practice to store multiple copies of your data throughout your IT infrastructure, this practice doesn’t necessarily guarantee that your backups will work properly when you need them. Typically, organizations will store one backup in-house, while another copy is sent to a secure, off-site location, typically in the cloud. The idea here is to have at least one backup completely separate from your in-house network, should anything disastrous happen to it. However, in addition to taking multiple backups, you need to routinely check to see if these backups actually work, seeing as they could still be susceptible to user error or data corruption. Therefore, make it a habit to test your backups, or have an outsourced provider do it for you.

Myth #2: Data that’s Frequently Backed Up Can Be Restored From its Original
If your data is only partially wiped out, then it usually can’t be restored from the original. Plus, rebuilding data from scratch is too time-consuming and expensive to be considered as a viable option. For example, think about how long it would take to reaccumulate all of the data stored on your company’s IT infrastructure--an impossibility for most organizations. Instead, having complete backups on hand ensures that you’ll overcome any disaster.

Myth #3: Data Backup and Disaster Recovery are One and the Same
At the core of this problem is the fact that many people don’t understand the differences between data backup and disaster recovery. Rather, they’re two equally critical parts of the same concept: business continuity; i.e., you can’t have one without the other. To be clear:

Data backup is the process of taking the backup itself, while disaster recovery is when these backups are recovered.

To further explain these differences: data backup represents a figure called the recovery point objective (RPO), which is how much data needs to be recovered in order to keep operations moving forward. Whereas disaster recovery makes use of RTO, (recovery time objective), which factors in how long this process takes.

To be clear, your business continuity plan must include both RPO and RTO. The best way to go about this for your business is to implement a backup and disaster recovery (BDR) solution. A BDR from Network Solutions Unlimited can help your organization get the most out of data backup by providing you with an enterprise-level solution designed to optimize uptime and efficiency.

BDR takes backups of your data as often as every fifteen minutes, making it exceptional for keeping your data up-to-date and functional. These backups are taken automatically and are sent to both the cloud and a secure, compliant off-site data center for storage. This gives you the option to restore your data remotely, directly to the BDR device, in the event of a disaster. Plus, the BDR can take the place of your server while you work to resolve the disaster.

If you’d like more information concerning BDR and business continuity, our trusted experts would be happy to consult you. To learn more, reach out to us at (217) 428-6449.