File backups are one of those things everyone knows they should be doing, but backups often fall to the bottom of the priority list until something goes wrong. Companies will start up a new cloud backup and recovery program and then never go into the settings again until they’ve lost data and need to recover it.
Forgotten backups can easily run into problems, and when that emergency hits, all too often, someone realizes they don’t have a full copy of their data to restore.
Backing up your data properly and having that backup monitored is vital to protecting your files from loss and to safeguarding a business from huge losses due to ransomware or another type of catastrophe.
The average cost of remediating ransomware doubles (to $1,448,458) if the company doesn’t have a backup and has to pay the ransom.
Lost documents, images, videos, and other files can happen for a wide range of reasons:
● Ransomware or other malware
● Hard drive crash
● Cloud service outage
● Syncing problem to cloud storage
● Natural or manmade disaster
● Lost or stolen device
● Accidental deletion or overwriting
● Unsecure endpoint device attack
As many as 60% of all backups are incomplete and 23% of those with a backup solution in place can’t recover any of their data.
Are you making a critical backup mistake?
Avoid These Mistakes to Ensure You Have a Full & Recoverable Backup
Never Checking a Backup
A common mistake that people make is to assume the backup program will take care of everything and never check in on it regularly.
Backups can hit all sorts of problems, and if they’re not monitored by using a managed backup plan or continually checking the backup yourself, data loss is often a result.
A business owner is hit with a hard drive crash and tries to restore a backup only to find that it hasn’t been capturing data for the last 3 months.
Some of the reasons a backup can fail to capture all your data include:
● Software problem
● Hardware malfunction
● Ran out of space
● User accidentally turned the backup off
● Backup doesn’t come back on after reboot
● Local storage device wasn’t properly plugged in
It’s best to have your backups monitored by a professional like Phoenix Edge so you can be sure all data is being captured regularly.
Not Testing the Restoration Capabilities of a Backup
The first part of your backup is backing up the data and the second part (just as important) is restoring your data. Companies that never check the restore function of their backup solution can end up with problems that cause restoration to be painfully slow or incompatible with a newer device.
It’s vital to test the restoration of data to ensure the solution you’re using can quickly and easily put data back when you need it to mitigate costly downtime.
Backing Up Only Onsite
If you back up your data onsite only and don’t also have a copy in the cloud or off-site, you can end up losing everything in the case of a theft or physical damage to your building from a hurricane, tornado, flood, or fire.
It’s a good idea to follow the 3-2-1 backup rule, which states:
● You should have 3 copies of all your data
● You should have 2 of those copies on separate storage media
● You should have 1 of those copies off-premises/in the cloud
Doing File Rather Than Image Backups
There are two different approaches to backups:
● File backup: Copying files & folders, but nothing else
● Image backup: Copying your entire operating system, settings, programs, files & folders
If you are only copying the files and folders that are stored on a hard drive, if something happens to that computer, then restoring a new PC to that desktop state could be difficult. You may need to replace applications, settings, emails, and more.
Full image backups are the fastest to restore because they take a snapshot of your entire computer environment to be restored all at once when needed.
Thinking Cloud Storage is the Same as Cloud Backup
If you have OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive, you have a great way to store and share live files, but what you don’t have is a backup plan.
Cloud storage and sharing apps store live files that can be overwritten or deleted. They are not backing up your files and saving them to be restored later.
While they do have their place in workflow productivity, these platforms aren’t the same as a backup and shouldn’t be treated as one. In fact. Microsoft recommends to users that they separately back up all the data contained in their cloud platform with a third-party backup system.
Find Expert Managed Backup Solutions at Phoenix Edge
Phoenix Edge Technologies can make sure your company is safe on a day-to-day basis with a full backup and rapid recovery plan.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation. Call 415-651-5110 or reach us online.
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