The Most Effective Backup Strategy For Protecting Business Data

The Most Effective Backup Strategy For Protecting Business Data

Most businesses recognize the need for a good backup strategy. No matter the size of the organization, none can afford to lose data. Yet according to a study by Clutch, 58% of SMBs don’t have strategies in place to prevent data loss. That is shocking considering 60% of SMBs shutdown within six months of losing their data. Therefore, how fast data can be recovered, and whether the data can be fully recovered, are critical to the survival of an organization.

To ensure complete protection against data loss, organizations can’t just use an average backup strategy. They need a better than average strategy which can provide both fast data recovery, as well as a failsafe in case of a disaster. The typical backup strategy used by many organizations involves running backups on premises. While there are advantages to this strategy, such as better security since the data is stored behind the company firewall, it provides no protection during a disaster. For example, if the organization experiences a fire or flood, which destroys the storage and backup devices, all the data will be lost.

While, hardware failure is the biggest contributor to data loss, natural disasters are still a big concern. A better than average backup strategy will enable organizations to prepare for these issues, allowing them to keep their business data safe, and increase the likelihood of a complete recovery regardless of the situation. The best backup strategy to accomplish this is referred to as the 3-2-1 Backup Strategy.

The 3-2-1 Backup Strategy

In the 3-2-1 Backup Strategy, instead of creating a single backup of important files, 2 backup copies are created. As a result, there are always three copies of every file and folder.

1. The first is the original file that is on a local server, or employee workstation.

2. The second is an onsite backup copy stored on a dedicated backup storage device in the organization.

3. The third is a backup copy stored offsite, typically through a private cloud storage solution, or secure offsite facility.

This ensures that there are always two backups. One onsite, and one offsite.

Why Not Just Backup Offsite Instead of Onsite?

If the organization experiences a hardware failure, the local backup copy provides the fastest way to recover the data, because the backup device is physically onsite. In comparison it would take much longer to recover data that has to be downloaded from the cloud or transported from an offsite storage. Speed of recovery is the biggest factor in reducing the financial impact of a data loss incident. The faster data can be recovered, the lesser the downtime. Therefore, the onsite backup is needed in addition to the offsite backup.

By ensuring that data can be recovered quickly onsite, while having an option for data recovery offsite, the organization can be certain that they have the best strategy in place to keep their business data safe.

What Data Should be Backed Up and How Often?

The 3-2-1 Backup Strategy provides a good overall solution for protecting business data. However, the decision needs to be made on what data needs to be backed up, and when to perform these backups. There is no need to backup every file each time. The key is to prioritize data that is necessary for keeping the business running. From there a schedule can be determined based on the data priority.

For instance, monthly backups may be required for data which rarely changes, such as website files. However, sales records, financial records, time logs, and other critical files and data, may need daily/nightly backups.

Some organizations may also need to decide on what data needs to be backed up vs what needs to be archived. If the organization needs to maintain important files for business or legal purposes, but those files aren’t needed for day to day operations, then those files can be archived. Archiving will free up hard drive space and decrease the amount of data that needs to be backed up, as well as, the time it takes to perform backups.

The Ultimate Backup Solution

Implementing a better than average backup strategy that can be trusted to provide fast onsite data recovery, as well as, a reliable offsite data recovery option, is key to the survival of an organization. Over 50% of businesses experienced some type of data interruption in the past two years. With the right solution, these interruptions are less likely to result in permanent loss of business.

Outsource IT provides an affordable integrated onsite and offsite data backup solution called the Outsource IT BBA. This service includes an onsite backup appliance, Canadian cloud backup storage for offsite backups, unlimited Canadian cloud archiving, and instant replacement warranty, for a simple monthly subscription fee. To find out more about this solution contact your Outsource IT account manager today.