4 Strategies to Improving Your Backups

How does your business leverage data backup? Depending on the way your business functions and your specific needs, your data backup solution will vary from other organizations in your industry. Yet, one thing is absolutely certain, and it’s that your organization can’t afford to not implement some type of data backup system. In the event of a data loss scenario, you won’t want to be left wondering if you could have prevented it with a little proactive action.

Here are four topics that you will want to consider when designing and implementing a data backup system.

Know What Data You’re Backing Up
The biggest question that you will have to ask yourself is how much of your data you’re going to back up. Of course, the answer should always be “as much as possible.” Having said that, any legal obligations you have for specific compliance regulations must be prioritized, as left unchecked they could cost your business even more in lost revenue as you may be subject to fines and other expenses.

Ensure Adequate Security Practices
One of the most dangerous backup security practices is to keep them stored on an in-house infrastructure that’s vulnerable to being compromised by external threats. If a hacker can infiltrate your network, it’s likely that they can also infiltrate any unprotected data backups that you have in place. While it’s helpful to have an on-site backup that can be used in the heat of the moment, it’s more effective to keep your backups stored in an off-site data center that is encrypted and protected properly.

Know Where Backups Are Stored
One of the most critical parts of data backup is where you’re storing your backups. While it’s convenient to store them on-site, you risk damages to them. We recommend that you follow the 1-2-3 data backup rule. You keep three copies of your data in total--one on-site for easy access, and two off-site, either in a secure off-site data center or in the cloud. Remember, the best failsafe for your business’ data infrastructure is to have copies of it somewhere where they can reliably be restored.

Test the Reliability of Your Systems
Speaking of reliability, your backup systems are useless if they don’t work as intended. The last thing you want is to experience a data loss incident and then fail to restore your data when it’s needed most. You should frequently test your business’ backups so that you can be confident that they work as intended. Otherwise, you’re simply flirting with disaster, at the mercy of what boils down to luck and hope.

Network Solutions Unlimited can equip you with a Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution that is designed to take frequent backups and store them in safe and secure off-site environment for rapid recovery in a moment’s notice. To find out how you can take advantage of this great solution, give us a call at (217) 428-6449.