Data Backup Vs Data Disaster Recovery
It can be both nerve-wracking and expensive to lose your data, especially if you’re losing your business’ important and confidential files. This is why it’s essential for your business to have a comprehensive and detailed backup revolver plan set in place. We’ll cover the importance of data backup and disaster recovery, as well as the key differences between the two.
Data is an incredibly valuable and significant element your business needs to thrive. With large pieces of confidential data comes many different threats that have a strong potential to harm your business. Threats come in all shapes in sizes. A few of them can include human threats, natural disasters, or technical threats. To prepare for security threats, Data site Colo explains that you should have a backup and disaster recovery plan in place.
Data Backup Vs Data Disaster Recovery
To start digging deeper into the importance of having a plan to recover your data and how to implement it, we’ll cover the differences between data backup and data disaster recovery. Data backup involves copying your files to a different disk through a cloud-hosted backup solution or a secondary computer.
This is an incredibly useful option to have in case an unexpected incident occurs, like
accidentally deleting a file, your hard drive crashes, or someone steals your computer. With a successful backup, you’re able to quickly restore the data you’ve lost before it’s gone for good.
Disaster recovery functions similarly to backups, but they’re used when larger issues with your data occur. If this happens, disaster recovery will copy your entire computer system from your servers to your desk drives. All of this data throughout your system will be restored without having to go through the hassle of reinstalling it all together.
As you and your employees continue to work, the system will continuously copy and mirror your data and information, allowing your system to be recovered any time you unexpectedly lose data.
The Importance of Implementing a Backup Solution Plan
Though a single backup solution is powerful on its own, a large majority of companies will adopt more than one backup solution to ensure their business’ critical information is as protected as possible. Some businesses will use a certain type of solution on their less essential information, while also using a stronger solution to backup more important company files and data. Your business should build a set strategy for the data you choose to back up. A great way you can do this is by building a written policy document.
This details which applications will be backed up, the data that they’ll be continuously backed up, your files’ encryption codes and information, testing details, and additional access information. Having a set plan in place helps protect you from any hackers, system failures, or significant productivity loss. If your data is lost for extended time periods, then your business can drastically decrease productivity levels as well, ultimately resulting in a loss of revenue and profits.
Steps to Creating an Effective Disaster Recovery Plan for Your Company
You should take your time when determining the right disaster recovery plan for your business to pursue. Follow these steps to help yourself craft a strong disaster and data recovery plan that helps your business stay protected and productive.
1. Back Up Your Data Through an External Source
Before you implement an office disaster recovery plan, you should decide which data is
essential. Your nonessential data can be backed up through an external source, like on a cloud-based system. Continue to sort through the rest of your files. You may even have some files that don’t need to be backed up, like your temporary files. Any essential files that contain important company data and information should be labeled as such.
2. Make Sure Your Backups Are Secured
When you’ve established what to include in your data disaster recovery plan, you can begin to implement it. Make sure to review these files and data to ensure it’s not damaged or errors within it. Many attackers try to target data backups to find and use your company’s sensitive information. This is why you should make sure all of your data backups are secured and protected from any data intrusions.
3. Decide How Often You Should Perform Data Backups
As much as you may want to continuously back up your data nonstop, it’s usually not very
possible or easy to do. This is why most businesses will backup their data according to a
detailed schedule. A great way to decide how often to back yours up depends on how much of a data lag your system can handle without causing a disruption to your business’ overall operations or productivity levels.
If you perform backups on a daily basis, you may run the risk of losing an entire day’s worth of your customer, employee, or company records. If this doesn’t create a large setback for you, then this could be a viable option for your business to pursue. For those who can only handle losing an hour’s worth of data, then an hourly data backup is the best idea for your business.
4. Assign Employees to a Designated Role in the Backup Plan
Since the office can get busy, it can be easy for a backup plan to be forgotten or lost in your busy work schedule. To prevent this, assign specific tech personnel to handle your backup system and assign them to oversee your data’s continuous backup. This also ensures you have employees on call and ready to restore important files data in case an unexpected event or emergency occurs that needs an immediate backup or recovery.
Conclusion
It’s important to have an effective data backup and recovery system in place to ensure your company and data are well protected and secured. If you have a set plan ready, you’ll be prepared for any data backup situation that’s thrown your way, which means your business’ productivity and revenue won’t suffer.
