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All you need to know about business data and systems backup and recovery.
Backup is a process of making a copy of your business data at predefined points in time, for the purpose of recovery or restoration in the event of data loss, corruption, or disaster. Modern backup applications allow to both restore your files and recover entire computer systems. To make sure your data is protected, backups should be automated, and they should be checked for consistence on regular basis.
When and how often to perform backups?
To answer this question, consider how much data you can afford to lose. For example, if losing one hour's worth of data is acceptable, you should back up your data every hour during workday. However, since the backup process can slow down the system hosting your data, it often makes sense to schedule backups outside of business hours. Typically, businesses run backups once a day, after offices are closed.
How long to store backup data?
That depends on how far back in time you may need to recover your data. We recommend retaining backup data for 90 days to 6 months - or longer - depending on your backup storage capacity.
Where to store backup data?
We recommend storing one copy of your backup data on-site and one or two additional copies at remote location(s). This backup strategy, combined with backup data replication, ensures that you can recover your data even if the on-site backup storage becomes inaccessible.
What is the difference between data restore and system recovery?
Data restore is the process of recovering files or folders from backup to a specific point in the past. It is useful when files have been
lost or corrupted.
System recovery, on the other hand, involves replacing computer system(s) with new ones and configuring them to be functionally identical
to the system that was backed up. System recovery is essential when your server(s) are no longer available or are not functional for any reason.
How long does it take to recover data from a backup?
Restoring files from a local backup typically takes a few minutes, if you know the exact date and time when the files were intact and uncorrupted. However, if you're unsure when the files were last available or not corrupted, it may take longer to locate and validate the correct file version in the backup.
How long does it take to recover my server or computer from a backup?
The time required to recover your system depends largely on the availability of a replacement server and whether the backup is stored locally or remotely.
To speed up recovery, the server can be virtualized - provided you have the infrastructure to support virtual machines. If you're restoring from a remote backup,
you may be able to expedite the process by having the backup storage physically shipped to the recovery location.
If a replacement server is readily available and the backup is stored locally, full system recovery can typically be completed within a day or two.
My server has a RAID controller, do I still need a backup?
A RAID controller protects your data against hardware failure by allowing the system to continue operating if one or more hard drives fail. However,
it does not allow you to recover data to a specific point in time.
RAID is not a substitute for backup. You still need a proper backup solution to recover from data corruption, accidental deletion, ransomware attacks, or other types of data loss.
Still have questions or concerns?
Feel free to reach out to us. Our professionals will be happy to answer your questions and help with setting up your backup infrastructure.