We Continue our Security Awareness Training by addressing some of the most common challenges for organizations who are now having to back up and protect data while users connect remotely to corporate systems.
Our focus will be to help you better understand backup options, and recommendations for how to protect data at the office or at home, let’s get started!
First, let us start by asking “do you know how much it costs your company to stop working for ONE day?
As humans, our time is easily the most important commodity we have, and until someone figures out how the “flux capacitor” works we will continue live our lives against father time. When relating data loss to business owners we typically ask if they have “monetized what a day of downtime looks like”?
The typical responses are “expensive” or worse “no I have not”.
What if we asked, “when is the last time you tested your backups at the office”?
This is a question I want you to remember because if you are not testing backups then you have no idea what will happen if you have to call upon the “BDR” solution currently in place. BDR stands for Backup and Disaster Recovery, and it is the closest thing to owning a DeLorean with the working flux capacitor so we can go back in time as needed. A great backup and disaster recovery solution can help ANY business owner sleep better, and the goal here is to help you avoid catastrophe with simple advice.
Understanding what you have in place for your “backup” solution today.
There are basically two flavors to backups “file” and “image” based solutions, and they are VERY different!
A “file” based solution frequently backs up and stores “files” from software and applications, so if the server goes down the IT resource will need to perform tasks to get that software and applications running on the server so the files that were backed up can be accessed and utilized. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days to get everything back up and running and even though having a file based setup is better than not having a backup solution at all, it really depends on your tolerance for “downtime”.
An “image” based solution also frequently backs up and stores files from software and applications, however it also stores copies of those applications and software so users can still access and utilize them while the IT resource works on repairing the issue. This solution saves time for the users as they do not have to wait until all is fully repaired, and usually can be accessed/ used within minutes of an issue.
Both solutions offer “offsite” or “cloud” options, the key is the speed and ease of remediation or time it takes to fully resolve an issue. File based solutions will simply take more time as if the server needs to be replaced or repaired the users are basically at a standstill until the server has been rebuilt, replaced which can take days sometimes weeks to occur. An Image based solution can be used like a server while the real device gets replaced repaired which greatly reduces the risk of excessive downtime.
“What if I have tape”?
Tape is no longer a viable option for backing up your business’s information. Tape backups require human/manual assistance, and thus increases the risk of lost or damaged backups. If you think about the type of information you save/ backup, then it is easy to understand why it is not worth the risk. If you do NOT understand this, let us help you.
31% of PC users have lost all files due to events beyond their control.
34% of companies who have tape backups fail to test their backups and of those that do, 77% have found tape backup failures.
The most alarming stat is that 60% of companies who lose their data in a disaster will shut down within 6 months of that disaster.
The world is an imperfect place, so monitor your backups
Backups can and do fail!
Monitoring your backups is extremely important and should be done regularly. When a backup fails or becomes corrupt it effects the backups from that point on, so testing is important. Testing will help ensure that the information can be pulled from when needed and provides a TRUE peace of mind when done regularly. If you find issues when testing, you can go back a few steps and can fix the problem before you lose the data forever.
Know your costs of downtime
Ok, we are about to be off the soapbox, but you really do need to know what it will cost should you lose a day or more completely. Fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and theft DO happen and the value of having a reliable backup and disaster recovery solution in place can not only provide that peace of mind but could save your business!
We opened talking about time, and guess what? Data loss and Time loss are one in the same, when it is gone it’s gone forever!
If you are currently using tape, lets discuss moving to a more reliable alternative otherwise the choices tend to be based on corporate tolerance for loss of time and money.
We hope this has been helpful, please continue to look for our follow up in the Security awareness series with topics to include: Recognizing a Cybersecurity threat, DNS resolution, and more!
PCS Managed Services strives to provide a Stable, Secure, and Productive environment for its clients, and is here to help you! For more information, please call us or email us at sales@pcs-ms.com for more information on how we can help better protect you.