What kinds of backups should I use?
File-based physical backups are often less expensive up front. But these require you to manually reinstall the operating system, drivers, software, etc., before you can restore the files back to their location. Image-based physical backups take a “snapshot” of your computer’s operating system, programs, software updates, and files. Cloud backups will back up your files onto a cloud-based storage system. These are often the most convenient, but unreliable internet or regulations requiring physical backups can lead you to use physical backups.
How often should I back up my data?
It depends. How much data can you afford to lose? The answer might vary from an hour’s worth up to a week’s worth. Another issue is you don’t have to do a full backup multiple times a day. You can pair a full backup every weekend with incremental nightly backups
Where should we be storing our backups?
This is one of the most frequently overlooked part of proper backup procedure. Are your backups stored on the same network as your regular files? Are they stored physically off-site? In the cloud? An on-site backup is nice for accidentally deleted files. But if your office burglarized, or your business is the victim of ransomware, professional off-site data storage would be helpful. Once you notify the vendor, they would either send a physical hard drive or restore from a cloud backup in a matter of moments.
The best practice would be to keep 2 backups for any important file. Each backup should be stored on a different kind of media, in order to protect against different types of hazards. And one copy should be stored offsite.
NSC Information Technology Group offers IT consulting to help you create a data recovery plan for your company to ensure your data is always accessible. We offer business continuity planning, disaster recovery planning, and data backup and recovery for your mission-critical files.