Who should do backups?
Anyone who has data they cannot afford to lose. Whether a small business, large enterprise, or a single person with one laptop, everyone has data and important files they cannot afford to lose.
What should be backed up?
Simple answer: ANYTHING you don’t want to lose. Here are some guiding questions to determine what should be backed up:
- Do you want to save storage? Backing up only the data may be all you need.
- Is everything on your device important? Perhaps the entire computer should be backed up, to make recovery easier, in the event of a system failure.
Where should it be backed up?
A good school of thought: information isn’t backed up unless there are at least two copies and the data is available in two separate locations. For example, in case of natural disasters, it may make sense to keep backups in separate cities, or even states. However, with cloud storage, backing up data is easier and safer than ever. Cloud storage gives users the ability to store data off-premise in secure locations. Using the Cloud ensures the safety and availability of business-critical applications and data storage.
Why should it be backed up?
Another simple answer: it’s determined the system, files, etc., cannot be lost, whether that be personal (wedding pictures, video of the kids, etc.) or for monetary reasons (work files, etc.).
When should backups be done?
Backups should be completed when they cause the least amount of inconvenience or when the data isn’t being altered/changed. For most backups, this means doing them at night. For others, special backup procedures and programs need to be in place to make sure constantly changing data can be properly backed up. As for how often backups should be done, it comes down to one simple question: How much data are you willing to lose? If you can stand to lose no more than a week, then set up a backup weekly. If you cringe at the thought of losing minutes of data (or any personal items), perhaps having real-time backups may be in order.
How should backups be done?
This question usually gets answered as you answer the rest of the questions; however, if you need a real-time backup this step should be automated. If you only need to backup one computer a month, there are far more options available to you, such as using the Cloud or local storage. Using the cloud as the destination for your backups allows a user to schedule a time to automate the back-up process. Keep in mind, most applications and programs have a wizard or step-by-step instructions that walk a user through the process of creating a backup.
Hopefully these questions have helped shed a light regarding backups, spark a conversation, and make you or your business question current backup strategies. Are they where they should be? Do they work? What really would happen if there was an outage? Superior Consulting Services offers custom cloud solutions for productivity, web hosting and data + doc management, with Microsoft 365 and Azure.
