Data Backup and Disaster Recovery Best Practices
It’s scary how many businesses fail to thoroughly test their data backup and disaster recovery systems. Here are 5 best practices you should be following.
Having a clean, easy-to-use online platform for your business is essential.
Know what’s even more essential? Ensuring that it’s always online.
Any server downtime on your site can be a massive blow to your online credibility, and, therefore, to your business. Any customer that visits your site only to be greeted with a 404 Error is likely a lost client.
What can you do to prevent this from happening?
Investing in backup and disaster recovery is the only surefire way to sure that your business maintains it’s online presence, regardless of circumstance.
Here are the 5 best practices you should be following.
Audit Your Threats
There are a number of threats that could target your business online. The better you understand the risks you’re up against, the better prepared you are to react.
Ransomware is proving itself to be a constant and growing threat. The fallout of Spectre and Meltdown still hangs over most servers.
Work with your IT team to identify and respond to any obstacle you may face.
Create A Checklist
When things go bad, they can go really bad.
Creating a checklist is like having a life preserver in a flood. It’s a straightforward document that keeps you sober-minded and focused, regardless of the chaos going on around you.
Make sure that the appropriate staff are aware of the checklist and know where to find it. Being able to persevere through a system crash calmly and with focus can be the difference between failure and success.
Provide Proper Training
Having a backup and disaster recovery checklist is only worthwhile if you have a staff that knows how to use it.
Have some members of your team trained in restoring your data. While it requires extra resources, these guidelines are for naught if your business lacks the know-how to implement the recovery.
Keep A Backup
Your data should be continually backed-up to a remote server.
As the most valuable resource for your online business, backup and disaster recovery is the key to reestablishing your site should things head south.
The reason you’re going to want to keep things on a remote server is simple: If you host your backups on the primary server and it goes down, so do your backups.
Keeping copies stored remotely allows you to have your data accessible at all times, regardless of circumstance.
Spend For What You Need
There can be an existential struggle when budgeting for disaster recovery. Like many insurances, we can recognize it’s need logically while recoiling from it emotionally.
That why it’s important to partner with the right IT team. Having someone with the expertise to understand your needs and recommend the solutions helps you to only pay for what you need while ensuring that your needs are met.
It may seem like a lot at the start, but even one disaster can be enough to justify its cost.
Final Thoughts On Backup and Disaster Recovery
The concept of backup and disaster recovery is fairly straightforward and can seem obvious. But business leaders that fail to properly prepare for an attack or system failure can find themselves in a downward spiral they may never recover from.
Plan ahead, be prepared and know how to react. This is what will get your business through the tough times and allow you to prosper during good times.
If you have any questions or want an assessment of your business’s needs, let us know. We’re happy to help.