In today’s world of digitalization, everything is done online. While doing all the work online, some of our data is stored in our systems. This calls for a need for backing up the data. Cyber threats and incidents are on the rise, so having a sound data backup strategy becomes inevitable. Without having one, the danger of permanently losing all your data looms upon you. This can lead to devastating impacts on your organization. Such as:
- Loss of productivity
- Recreational costs
- Payment of fines
- Damage of Reputation
Whether it’s cherished family vacation photos, work reports, or an entire semester’s homework, chances are you have precious data stored on your computer’s hard drive or mobile device that holds immense value and should never be lost. So, we have created a well-detailed guide so that you don’t have to face such horrible sight. But before getting into the guide, we must know the basic meaning.
What is Data Backup?
It is nothing but a copy of important info stored in our devices like compute, phones, or tablets that are used to restore the original info in the event of a loss of data. Having a backup strategy helps in retrieving lost data or protecting data. It should be a routine on part of the cyber hygiene.
At Bluechip Computer Systems, we provide you with a premium range of data backup services. To avoid major info losses and keep the work running, our teams have developed backup strategies that help you against these events. The guide will cover everything from the ways to the costs of saving data.
Check out the ultimate step-by-step guide on data backup services here:
Understand The Data
Before knowing the procedure, it is important to access the data that you want to back up. First up, collect the data and group them in files on the basis of their criticality. You can divide them into three categories based on their vitality of restoration.
The three categories are:
- The Existential Significance: ensure organizational survival
- Mission-Criticality: operation of the company
- Criticality for Business Success: business performance
Each of these groups requires a separate strategy for data backup. Data other than the ones mentioned above would require a monthly backup. Performing a risk assessment and making an analysis of how it impacts business would assist you in classifying data.
Understand The Data Change Frequency
Now it is to assess how frequently the data changes. This will give you an extreme wisdom of how and when it changes. Conducting an evaluation for this can help you get an insight into the constant transposition of the data. This analysis allows you to make informed decisions regarding data management, security, and backup strategies.
Defining RTOs And RPOs
You should also define the RTOs and RPOs during this process.
- RTO (Recovery Time Objective) – the longest you can be without that in case it gets lost and how quickly you need to recover it.
- RPO (Recovery Point Objective)– assessing the largest volume of data that you can afford to lose. Basically how often you should back up the data?
Determine The Type And Frequency of Backup
Now, that you have assessed the criticality of the data, now is the time to understand the frequency that you want for it to back up. This decision depends upon various factors:
- The recency of the data
- Change in data
- Storage space required to back up data
- The amount of data you can lose.
Choose a backup type
The next step is to select the best backup type out of the three:
- Full.
- Differential.
- Incremental.
Before choosing the data backup type, always keep the pros and cons in mind.
Choose a storage location
At Bluechip Computer Systems, we provide you with two options for our data backup services for storing the data. These two are on-site or off-site repositories. Various factors are considered before selecting the right one. These factors are:
- Cost
- Management
- Security
- Accessibility
- Scalability
Determining the duration of the backups is also necessary. The retention rate is directly proportional to the importance of the data.
Establish the procedures
Once the basic info of the data is assessed, it’s time to file them. This serves as a source of truth for any backup-related guide for the tea. The following info must be documented
- Stakeholders and staff members
- Instructions for executing backup
- Guides to restoring data
- RTOs and RPOs
- Cost of the data backup
Once all these steps are done and a strategy is developed, run the entire process to verify it its performance is up to the mark. Check whether there are any files missing or if there is a corrupt file.
What is the 3-2-1 strategy?
The 3-2-1 data backup strategy is a method that is used to make sure that the data is copied rightfully and is recoverable. The strategy involves creating three copies of the same data on at least two devices out of which, one is stored temporarily.
This can be broken down in the following ways:
Three copies: This is to ensure that every piece of data has two copies to protect against files getting lost and corrupted.
Two storage methods: Selecting two distinct storage methods helps you have a backup in case you lose all your data.
Off-site copy: Utilising a storage option that temporarily stores and provides protection against risks relating to problems.
These are widely recognized as one of the effective ways to back up your data. But there are plenty of other ways to have their own processes. Providing you with the best data backup services at Bluechip Computer Systems, we ensure you the best services. We are the one-stop location to assist you with all the data storage services.
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