The 4 Levels of Data Backup

You've heard it said that data is your business's most valuable asset. This is because it's virtually impossible to keep an operation going without it. Therefore, it's vital to have a data backup solution for your organization. There are different levels of data backup; you will want to pick one that's right for your business.

Level Zero: No Data Backup
Because data backup is crucial to the continuity of any business, we're still shocked to come across companies that don't have any plan in place. There's a perception among small businesses that they're not at risk from data loss. In a recent survey, only 13% of small business owners admitted that their unprotected data was susceptible to a disaster-causing data loss. While it's good to be confident with sales, you don't want to be overly confident about your company's risk tolerance with data loss.

A business that thinks they have a good reason for not backing up their data may use the excuse, "It's an unneeded expense," or, "a disaster will never happen to us." However, the reality of the situation is that 40% of small businesses hit with data loss go out of business. A business can get ahead by risking its assets, but saving a some money by putting data at risk is a move that you will severely regret if you're hit with a disaster.

Level 1: A Local Backup Solution
Going with a local backup solution is a decent option that will alleviate much of the risk you've taken on from not having any backup solution. Two popular local backup solutions are backing up your network with tape and using external hard drives. Having an extra copy of your files on premise is a good move, but it will not provide your business with the best protection from data loss.

The shortcoming of depending on a local backup solution is seen when a major disaster like a fire, earthquake, or flood, destroys your PCs/servers along with your backup drives. In a situation like this, your local backup solution just failed and there's a high likelihood that you'll be closing your doors for good. To protect yourself from major disasters, you will want to upgrade one level.

With that in mind, don't forget about other disasters like malware, user error, and hardware malfunctions that can lead to major data loss.

Level 2: Backup to the Cloud
The advantage of backing up your data to the cloud is that it's stored in a data center offsite. This means if there's ever a major disaster that destroys your building, you can keep your cool because your data will safely be stored offsite. Backing up to the cloud is also a much more convenient way to backup your data than having to replace and store tapes every day.

Level 3: Backup to Different Data Centers
Backing up to the cloud is a secure way to store your data offsite, but before you sign up for a cloud-backup service, you will first want to ask your cloud-service provider how many data centers will be storing your information. This is an important question to ask because the more locations your data is stored on means the more secure your data will be. If your data is only backed up to one data center, then it could be lost if a disaster strikes that one data center.

Ask your cloud provider about the location of these data centers. What happens if your data is only backed up by one data center and it happens to be a few blocks away? This could spell trouble for your business if a single tornado takes out both your business and the data center you use. Ideally, you will want to go with a data backup solution that uses multiple data centers and has them spread out throughout the country.

Level 4: Full Disaster Recovery
For the ultimate protection, businesses should utilize a complete backup and disaster recovery (BDR) solution. To achieve true protection, you should be backing your data up regularly throughout the day to a local backup device. Your data is stored incrementally, so files that aren't edited or changed aren't backed up, just the files that are adjusted. Then, your backup device sends all of the data off to the data center for secure storage. Depending on the severity of the disaster, you can either restore directly from the device, pull files from the data center, OR in the worst case scenario, have a new backup device sent overnight to you so you can set up an ad-hock network and get by while you figure out your next move.

To learn more about this model of backup, call k_Street Consulting, LLC at (202) 640-2737.

We can provide you with a data backup solution that will supply you with the level of operational security as your business needs. With our Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution, we are able to redundantly backup your data to multiple data centers, and BDR can quickly recover your data to a terminal in the event of a data loss disaster. This way, you can quickly get your business up and running again. To give your business the highest level of data protection possible, reach out to us today!