Data is one of a business's most important assets: customer records, sales transactions, inventory, financial reports, and contracts. The problem is that many businesses only think about backups after they lose data, when a hard drive fails, a laptop goes missing, a server is hit by ransomware, or an important file is deleted by accident.
The good news is that IT practitioners have long relied on a simple guideline to prevent this: the 3-2-1 backup rule.
3 copies of your data. Keep at least three copies of important data: the primary data you use every day and two backup copies. If one copy is damaged, two remain.
2 different storage media. Don't keep every copy in the same place. For example, keep the primary data on an office server or computer, one backup on an external hard drive or NAS, and another in a cloud service. Different media are unlikely to fail at the same time.
1 copy off-site. At least one copy should live outside the office, such as in the cloud or at another location. This protects data from events that hit one place all at once, such as fire, flood, or theft.
To deal with ransomware, many practitioners now add one more principle: keep at least one copy that can't be modified or isn't permanently connected to the network. Ransomware usually encrypts everything it can reach, including backup drives that are always plugged in.
A few tips to make your backups truly reliable:
Automate backups. Manual backups are easily forgotten on busy days. Set an automatic schedule, for example daily for transaction data and weekly for data that rarely changes.
Test the restore process. A backup that has never been restored may not actually work. Run regular restore tests, for example by restoring a few files or a database to a test computer.
Encrypt and restrict access. Backups contain data just as sensitive as the original. Protect them with a password or encryption and limit who can access them.
Document what is backed up. Keep a simple list: what data, where it is stored, how often, and who is responsible. This list is invaluable when something goes wrong and everyone is under pressure.
If your business applications are web or cloud based, ask the provider how backups are done, how often, and how long a restore takes. Make sure you can also export your own data.
The EXE AJA team can help review your business data and systems and put together a suitable backup strategy through our IT consulting service. Contact us to talk it through.
Illustrative photo: Valentin Lacoste via Unsplash.
