According to research by the University of Texas, only 6% of companies suffering from a catastrophic data loss surviv, while 43% never reopen and 51% close within two years.

Backup, we can’t avoid it no matter how hard we try. We’ll have to deal with it eventually, whether a staff member overwrites an important file or a hard drive burns up. Data loss is inevitable. Occasionally when data loss occurs, it is possible to retrieve data but it often comes with a large price tag. It’s important to consider the cost of down time you’ll experience with data loss. What it would cost if you lost your company database? How would you continue operating your business? This should drive what options you choose along with cost of implementation.

The best method that we recommend is backing up to hard drive or tape, then backing up encrypted to an online location as well using a Full + Differential method with validation. We also recommend using a common, two week daily backup, six monthly backups, and annual backups. All backups less than a month old are stored in a secure location on-site and then transferred to a secure location off-site.

If you’re not sure how backup works, don’t worry, we’ve put together a quick primer for you. Even if you’re a seasoned backup pro you should consider updating your hardware and methods, the energy savings you can see from newer hardware and revised backup procedures can save you money while staying green.

Permanent data loss can be avoided if proper technology and procedures are implemented. Backup procedure is quite involved, but it’s worth your time invested because when you experience data loss you will be ready to get back on track quickly. Backup protocol can be broken into three basic categories; hardware, software, and method.

Hardware

Backup hardware is rich in options and technical specifications that can make your mind numb. Don’t get overwhelmed though, once explained it’s easy.

Hard Drives
Cheap and easy to buy and install yourself, the capacity is large, up to 1TB. The down side is that they are usually slow and can burn out.

Optical Drives
CD’s or DVD’s are super cheap, easy to use and store. The down side is that they have a relatively small capacity, under 10GB max. and they often become defective over time due to the quality of the materials. Hence, why they are super cheap.

Tape
This media form is very inexpensive considering how much capacity they can provide., The archival period (how long it lasts) is great, and the longevity of the media is much longer than most options. This the most preferred option. The downside is you have to have a tape drive installed and requires continual changing of tapes.

Online
While not technically hardware, it’s a storage location that should be considered. Storing to an online location is great because it is low maintenance and usually low cost, but it’s down side is that it can take longer for backups to happen because of internet upload speeds.

With each medium you must consider security options, backup capacity, and how long it will take, called the backup window, to back up to your chosen medium.

Software

There are many options for backup software, you can use the one that comes with your hardware, buy one from a third party, or even use the backup software that comes with Windows.

Management
How easy is it to manage your backup routines, can you easily make changes without having to delete the job and recreate it? How flexible is it? Can you make multiple jobs, such as incremental backups through the week and full backups once a week.

Reporting
Probably one of the most important features in any backup software. Beyond how it will backup your data, reporting is what matters. What’s important? Ensuring the backup jobs complete successfully and without errors. Knowing that your data has been validated will help detect if data corruption is occurring in your backups.

Method

This is the real nuts and bolts of backing up data, it’s not what is being backed up, or where it will be backed up to, it’s how it is backed up. This is the part to pay attention to when creating a backup plan.

Data Repository Models
This may seem somewhat overwhelming at first, but don’t let the big names intimidate you It is incredibly simple to understand once broken down to their core elements.

• A Full backup is backup of all of the files selected for storage.
• A Full + Incremental is backup of all files plus small incremental backups between full backups.
• A Full + Differential is a backup of all of the files plus small backups of only what has changed from the full backup.
• A Continuous is when the system continually backs up data instead of scheduled.

Compression
Every backup software and some hardware supports some form of compression, this allows you to pack more data on your medium. However, the problem with compression is that it elongates your backup window.

Encryption
All backup software supports encryption, this enables you to protect your backups once they are one the backup medium. If you’re backups are stolen your data remains protected. The problem with encryption is the same as compression, it increases your backup window. If the backup window is too long it may disable you from accessing files or databases because those files are locked from editing until the backup job is complete.

Rotation
Every time you backup to a medium, you have to consider how often you overwrite data onto the same medium. This is a decision that you must make considering how far back you would like to restore to. Many firms keep two weeks worth of daily backups, a few monthly backups, and annual backups.

Data Validation
Often overlooked, this confirms that the data backed up onto your hardware medium of choice, is actually being stored correctly with no errors. Too many people do not validate data, which is sad to see and experience when you have successful backups but corrupted data.

Restore Testing
One of the most important aspects of the backup methodology is to restore your backups on a regular basis to ensure that the data is not only being backed up correctly but that it will restore properly as well. Nothing will make a bad situation worse than experiencing data loss and attempting to restore a backup that fails. This should be done regularly and assessed as to whether all backup procedures and settings are correct.

Additional Recommendations

Firms with no in-house IT Admin:Consider including remote backup options, this eliminates the expertise you may not have. Consult with an outside IT company about localized backup.

Firms with in-house IT Admin: Periodically review, with your IT Admin, about your backup plan ensuring that you confidently know that your data is being backed up properly.