Today, I listen to a story about a lady who lost her home and she stated she never thought it would happen to her.

This was a residence, but just imagine if it was your corporation and you lost everything. Here are some helpful recommendations for backup and recovery strategies for your business. Get an experienced IT consultant to assist you, but make sure they are following these rules.

Always On

Look for services that perform consistent online backup of files as soon as they are changed. It isn’t enough to just have an online storage space. Dragging files there will only work as a backup if it is done just before a computer failure. Even if the service has a scheduled backup that operates every week, think how much data a business could lose since the last time it ran?

Encryption

It is imperative that files are encrypted before even leaving the original system, and that the account holder is offered a unique encryption key for authorized access. Even though most online backup services utilize encryption to protect data, many do not use encryption when they store data on servers. While this might be okay for music files, it isn’t enough for protecting business information like customer information and banking records.

Ease In

Many online backup tools are geared to be used by IT experts. Many of these services entail intimate knowledge of the operating system in order to do a backup. Look for systems that automatically determine where Outlook, desktop, etc. are located to aid with the setup.

Multiple Versions

To keep storage costs low, many backup services retain only one copy of every file. This may seem like enough, but what would happen if crucial files got corrupted by a virus and a small business didn’t notice until after the next backup? If the online backup service is just keeping preserved copies of files, this could be a problem when it comes time to recover.

Incremental Changes

Look for online backup services that automatically sense and extract only the data that changes, to considerably lessen backup time and enhance effectiveness. Backup services without detection features must back up a whole file every time they are changed. This may be all right for small files, but backing up a whole mail file each time new mail is received is a headache

Backup vs. Archive

The distinction between backup and archive can be slight and a united approach can be precious for disaster recovery. Backup is intended to ensure rapid recovery of files in case of adverse actions. Usually, these systems are designed to get the most recent changes to a file, store it for a time and then push out older files with every new backup. Archiving is intended at long-term preservation of a state of a file.

Interruption

Some services are created to be interruptible, guaranteeing that if a connection is broken, the online backup will simply stop, and then pick where it left off when the connection returns.

Deletion

If a file is deleted from your computer in error, it is vital to understand whether it will still be kept in the online backup. Many businesses are astonished to find out that some unlimited online backup services reduce costs by automatically deleting files that are no longer on the original system.

Multiple Systems

Be sure to know how many computers are covered by a plan, and know any restrictions regarding the types of devices allowed to be backed up.

Remote Access

Know if the plan includes the capability to access your stored data from any system, remotely, with any internet browser.

Contact RedWave Technology Group, LLC to discuss the proper data backup and recovery plan for your business at (205) 917-5757 or info@redwaveit.com