Backup & Recovery Systems

Implementing reliable backup strategies and disaster recovery plans for business continuity.

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Why Backups Are Critical

Ransomware, hardware failures, natural disasters, and human error can destroy business data. 93% of companies without data protection and disaster recovery that experience a major data loss are out of business within one year.

The 3-2-1-1-0 Backup Rule

3 Copies

Keep at least three copies of your data: the original plus two backups for redundancy.

2 Different Media

Store backups on two different types of media (hard drives, cloud, tape, NAS) to protect against media-specific failures.

1 Offsite

Keep at least one backup copy offsite or in cloud to protect against physical disasters like fire, flood, or theft.

1 Offline/Immutable

Maintain one air-gapped or immutable backup that ransomware cannot encrypt. Critical for ransomware recovery.

0 Errors

Verify backups complete successfully with zero errors. Test restoration regularly to ensure backups work.

Backup Types

📦

Full Backup

Complete copy of all data. Slowest to create but fastest to restore. Weekly recommended.

📦

Incremental Backup

Only changed data since last backup. Fast, efficient storage. Daily recommended.

📦

Differential Backup

All changes since last full backup. Balance between full and incremental. Alternative to incremental.

📦

Continuous Data Protection

Real-time or near-real-time backup of every change. Minimal data loss but requires more resources.

What to Back Up

  • All business-critical data and databases
  • Customer records and transaction history
  • Financial records and accounting data
  • Email servers and communication archives
  • Employee records and HR data
  • System configurations and settings
  • Application data and custom software
  • Website content and e-commerce platforms
  • Intellectual property and business documents

Backup Schedule

Daily

Incremental backups of all changed data. Automated at night or off-peak hours.

Weekly

Full backup of all critical systems. Verify integrity of backup media.

Monthly

Long-term archival backup. Test restoration procedures. Review backup logs.

Real-Time

Continuous protection for mission-critical systems that cannot tolerate data loss.

Testing Backups

✓

Monthly Test Restores

Restore random files to verify backup integrity. Document success/failure.

✓

Quarterly Full Recovery Test

Restore entire system to test environment. Verify all data and applications work correctly.

✓

Annual Disaster Recovery Drill

Full-scale test of disaster recovery plan. Time the recovery process. Identify improvement areas.

Recovery Time Objectives

Define acceptable downtime for each system:

  • RTO (Recovery Time Objective): Maximum acceptable downtime. How long can you be offline?
  • RPO (Recovery Point Objective): Maximum acceptable data loss. How much data can you afford to lose?
  • Mission-critical systems: RTO < 1 hour, RPO < 15 minutes
  • Important systems: RTO < 4 hours, RPO < 1 hour
  • Standard systems: RTO < 24 hours, RPO < 8 hours

Backup Solutions

Cloud Backup

Backblaze, Carbonite, Acronis. Offsite, scalable, managed. Monthly subscription pricing.

Local NAS

Synology, QNAP, TrueNAS. Fast restores, full control. Requires offsite component.

Backup Software

Veeam, Commvault, Veritas. Enterprise-grade. Works with multiple storage types.

Microsoft 365 Backup

Third-party backup of Office 365 data. Microsoft retention != backup. Use dedicated solution.

Disaster Recovery Planning

  • Document all systems and dependencies
  • Prioritize systems by criticality
  • Define recovery procedures step-by-step
  • Assign roles and responsibilities
  • Maintain updated contact lists
  • Keep plan accessible offline
  • Review and update plan quarterly