Practice the 3-2-1 Back up rule
Companies, organizations, or individuals – all should pay attention to data backup! This ensures that your important information will survive any of the hazards, this includes natural disasters, human error, or a cyberattack.
The 3-2-1 backup rule is an easy-to-remember common approach to keeping your data safe in case of a failure.
It stands for:
- Keep at least three copies of your data
- On two different storage media
- One of them located offsite.
Let’s take a closer look at why it is so important.
Keep at least three copies of your data.
Countless incidents like natural disasters, theft, cyberattacks, or physical damage could lead to severe consequences. Therefore, having one backup isn’t enough, especially if it is stored in the same premises as the primary data and on the same media type. The more backup copies you have, the less chance you would lose all of them. That’s why the 3-2-1 backup rule states that you need at least three copies of your data, meaning the primary data and two backups of this data. How to store backups correctly?
Store two backup copies on different storage media
None of the storage devices is 100% reliable. Hard drives fail over time. They can be lost, stolen, or damaged. Two machines of the same type have a much greater risk of failing at the same time than two devices of different types. So, the second part of the 3-2-1 backup rule advises keeping your data stored differently. For instance, to use a hard drive and Cloud storage. And here we come to the last part of the rule.
Keep at least one backup copy offsite.
A disaster will affect all copies of data stored in one place. That’s why a final part of the 3-2-1 backup rule is to keep at least one copy of your data in a remote location. You can go for a cloud option or physical storage on another piece of hardware located in a different place, sometimes even another city or country. While storing one backup copy offsite strengthens your data security, having another backup copy onsite provides for faster and simpler recovery in case of failure.
Note that two of three components of this rule involve the Cloud, so if you need any advice on Cloud-based data security and backup solution, give us a call, and we will take care of all other aspects of your data.
