Backup Versus Disaster Recovery
Today, most companies, regardless of their size and industry, have at least one thing in common, the shift to digital platforms. Although digital platforms lend themselves to endless opportunities for growth, they also bring new challenges. Most critical data is now stored in a paperless format. Even a spilled glass of water can cause significant damage to some critical hardware, resulting in significant losses. In addition to technological failures, there are employee errors, natural disasters, and cyberattacks. Can you afford to lose critical data? Data backups and disaster recovery plans should be an integral part of your business strategy. But what is the difference?
What Is Data Backup?
Data backup is an automated process of copying, saving, and restoring data using a special software. The purpose of data backup is to safeguard all data contained on the protected devices and enable recovery if it is lost, damaged, corrupted, or infected by ransomware, viruses, or any type of malware. Data backup is an essential component of a larger disaster recovery plan (DRP) that every company, organization, and even individuals should have in place.
In the best-case scenario, you need to have three copies of all your data, that are stored in two different places, one of them off-site.
What Is Disaster Recovery?
Disaster recovery is the entire process of protecting data and services from problems and restoring them in the event of a failure. It is more complex than the process of backing up your data.
A disaster recovery solution must not only protect data, but also provide a way to quickly identify where backup data exists in the event of an emergency. It should also efficiently restore that data to the correct location.
The goal of cloud disaster recovery is to minimize the impact of an unexpected infrastructure or service disruption on your customers while avoiding downtime for your business.
When creating a disaster recovery plan, you must consider several factors to ensure that your disaster recovery solution will meet your needs when the unexpected occurs. You will need to set objectives, plan how you will achieve these objectives, test your plan, and review and/or update it regularly.
Why Do You Need Both Data Backup and Disaster Recovery Plans in Place?
1. People make mistakes.
Even the most credible and professional employees are only human. They can potentially lose or damage their hardware, accidentally delete important data, fall victim to phishing email or visit a malware-ridden website, giving hackers access to the corporate IT system. You never know where a threat will come from. So, it is best to always be prepared and have a reliable disaster recovery plan ready to implement. Be sure to also back up data regularly to enable you to get business back on track in no time.
2. Technology and hardware fails.
Even the best devices can have unexpected problems. Power outages cause downtime, which can negatively affect customer service. Laptops with important documentation can be damaged or just suddenly stop working. Software failures could potentially result in losing customers’ loyalty and trust. Having a data backup copy stored in cloud can virtually rescue your business and prevent damage to your company’s reputation.
3. Natural disasters happen at the least expected time.
Extreme heats, deep freezes, mass flooding, earthquakes, wildfires, tornados, and other natural disasters greatly impact people’s life. All these factors are still out of our control. Unfortunately, natural disasters are unpredictable.
4. Cybercrimes are on the rise.
Cybercrimes are increasing, not just in number but also in sophistication. When sophisticated threats meet weak cybersecurity, it is a recipe for disaster. That is why critical business data and documents should be backed up regularly and kept in a reliable storage source. This allows your business to recover the information you need and keep operations running.
Four Questions to Ask for the Most Effective Data Backup Strategy
1. HOW IMPORTANT IS THE DATA?
Let’s face it. All data is important. However sensitive information about customers, or large databases with identifiable customer may need to be backed up more frequently. These must also extend back several periods. They should also be encrypted to keep the data secure in the event of an attempted breach.
2. HOW QUICKLY DOES YOUR DATA NEED TO BE RECOVERED?
Some technology issues don’t impact recovery time to a great degree. If there is another computer system in the office, you can easily retrieve the backup data using the secondary system. However, in the event of a natural disaster such as a fire or flooding, you will likely need new hardware. That also means you’ll need some time to reinstall applications, software, updates, and the data.
Consider having an off-site system ready to go in case of such an event, as it will significantly reduce your data recovery time.
3. WHAT TYPE OF EQUIPMENT WILL YOU NEED TO BACKUP THE DATA?
Do you plan to use a data backup provider, or will you be taking care of the backup equipment yourself? If you choose the latter, you will need to acquire several backup devices and backup media. It is also recommended that you move the backups to a secure, offsite location each day.
4. WHEN WILL THE BACKUPS BE SCHEDULED?
The ideal time is at the end of the day when all updates to the day’s data has been completed. However, there may be certain types of data that you would prefer to have backed up on a consistent schedule throughout the day. This is possible with more advanced data backup systems.
Keep in mind, that technologies evolve rapidly. When considering your data backup and recovery plans, why not delegate these tasks to professionals with a guaranteed result? Contact Klik Solutions to discuss how we can protect your IT infrastructure and data in an effective and stress-free way!
