“Backup” refers to the process of preserving data by copying it to a safe place. In the event of human error, service issues, infrastructure issues, or a ransomware attack, the data can be restored.
Backups can differ according to how much data they store, the location, and how they store the data. Backups may store the entire data set (full), a certain subset (incremental), or only what has changed (differential). Backups may be local, offsite in a remote data center, or offsite in the cloud. They may be set up to use fully mirrored servers, file transfer protocol (ftp), or virtualization techniques such as replication, snapshots, and live migrations.
When backing up for smaller-scale outages, companies will often keep their backups on-site or near their main facility. If they are hit by a natural disaster such as a hurricane, flood, fire, or earthquake, those backups could go offline as well. For this reason, cloud-based backup options at off-site data centers are becoming more popular.
Sometimes just the backup is sufficient for certain parts of your business. Disaster recovery, though, is crucial in protecting the services and infrastructure your company depends on every day. Disaster recovery includes policies, tools, and procedures to maintain essential business functions in the event of significant disruptive events. More than 80% of businesses that experience a disaster without a disaster recovery plan never recover. The best solutions involve using both backups and disaster recovery.
Disaster recovery includes three processes: failover, restore, and failback. “Failover” is automatically, seamlessly offloading tasks to backup systems. “Restore” is transferring backup data to your primary system or data center. “Failback” is switching back to the original systems.
In establishing disaster recovery procedures, there are three key questions to answer.
- How much time can you afford to lose?
- How much data can you afford to lose in a disaster?
- What impact will the lost time and data have on your bottom line?
NSC Information Technology Group can help you identify your critical needs, create and manage a disaster recovery plan with the necessary backups, and monitor your systems for internal and external disasters.