how to backup business dataSince the dawn of man, human beings have been concerned with safeguarding the things they find valuable. Be it food, fuel, medicine or pirate treasure, it is important to protect what is valuable, so it is there when you need it. In this day and age, one of the most valuable commodities to business that needs protecting is data. Data is your treasure. Computers and network equipment can be replaced. Even facilities can be replaced or temporary ones setup in the event of disaster. But what happens when your data gets destroyed? Data is not so easily replaced and can end up causing the death of business if the loss is significant enough.

Fortunately, your business data, being mostly digital in nature, can be easily copied and stored elsewhere, where it can be accessed in the event of a loss or compromise of your operational data set. Imagine a pirate who could make multiple copies of his treasure chests and store them in different areas. If one was lost, he could always recover another one. This type of cache is the way modern backup systems work.

Backups take several forms. Onsite backups allow fast recovery of data in case servers or storage fail or get compromised. The downfall here is that local backups are subject to loss if a disaster affects the physical office where things are located. Due to this, offsite backups became common. Backups are replicated to other locations and most recently to Cloud hosts. Having solid backups is the first line of defense in a disaster to help you recover your data and get back to normal business. Backups also need to be able to be efficiently managed to ensure that data is continuously replicated. Plugging an external drive in and manually copying data every day is a very inefficient and unwieldly process and is prone to error and skipping. It is important to have a solid backup solution that manages the backup storage, backup schedules and data sets and provides reporting to make sure that you are properly protected.

So, we’ve protected our treasure. We’ve made multiple copies of our treasure chests and stored them in multiple locations and have our Yeoman (backup system) making sure the treasure is up to date and distributed equally. But pirate treasure is serious business. We can’t accumulate that treasure without a sturdy ship to be able to acquire and transport it. What happens when we run into a huge storm or the enemy attacks and our ship founders? We’re out of the pirate business until we get another ship. That can take time. Can we keep our crew together during that time? What happens to our reputation on the seas? While our treasure chests are safe, we are out of business until we can recover from the disaster that befell us.

What if we had a magic bottle with a ship in it that we could release when we needed it so we could get back to sea as quickly as possible. What if we had a few of these bottles in multiple locations as well so we could get back up and running regardless of port conditions. Enter image-based backups. Imaging allows us not only to take snapshots of data but entire server systems. If a server fails, we can spin up a copy of it virtually and continue on. Local virtualization allows us run these virtual backed up servers and continue normal operations while we are dealing with the physical server issue. Offsite virtualization allows us to spin up these systems in the Cloud and connect an office, or temporary work site to the Cloud backed up systems to continue working in the midst of a disaster that would normally stop business. This is referred to as Business Continuity and is the modern objective of a solid Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery (BCDR) strategy. This is our magic bottle that can release our backup ship so we can get back to sea quickly with as little down time as possible.

So as a business owner, it is important to have a solid BCDR plan and system in place. Not only do you want to protect your treasure but be able to continue to grow it.

Why Does Your Business Need Backups?

  • Stuff Happens- Systems fail, things break, and you need to be able to keep your business running regardless.
  • The Barbarians Really Are At The Gate- Cyber criminals are not going away. They have a multi-billion-dollar business of their own at the expense of yours. Ransomware and other forms of malware can compromise data and take systems down. You need to be able to restore and get around them.
  • Mother Nature Will Not Be Deterred- You can’t stop nature. Natural disasters can cause huge business disruptors. Being able to weather the storm and keep working is critical.
  • Peace of Mind- having solid BCDR in place gives you the peace of knowing that your business can weather the storms that affect your systems and data and your business is resilient in the face of disaster.

If you are unsure of how secure your pirate treasure and ship is, contact CTTS and we can evaluate your BCDR situation and work with you to right the ship and keep you protected.

As security professionals find better ways to protect our assets, cybercriminals find more ways to get in, so it's best to always be on your guard. If you're not sure about your businesses’ cyber defenses, schedule a free IT Consultation or give CTTS a call at (512) 388-5559, before it's too late!

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By Kurt Rinear
Director of Technical Services
Central Texas Technology Solutions