A thorough data backup is important for your business continuity plan, and so is a fast and efficient disaster recovery solution. What's that? Aren't those the same thing? Unfortunately, the two concepts are far from the same thing, but many business owners are still under the impression that their data backup is also a disaster recovery solution.
If you think about it, the differences are pretty clear. Data backup records your information so you can restore it at a later date, while disaster recovery uses the data backup to restore your business's files in the event the originals are destroyed. There are three critical facts every business should know about data backup and disaster recovery.
How Quickly Can Your Backup Solution Restore Data?
Depending on what type of data backup solution you have, your recovery time could be extremely variable and potentially time-consuming. For example, a tape backup could take between several hours to a few days in order to completely restore all of your data. More modern backup solutions are much faster when it comes to restoring your data, and we recommend a backup device that can actually act as your server in the event of downtime. Therefore, instead of being at the mercy of a slow backup, you can be back up and running within minutes.
Slow Backups Can Cause Downtime and Poor End-User Experience
When a backup is made, it comes at a steep cost. The backup puts huge strain on the processing power of the server. This is typically why backups occur at night, when network traffic is minimal. However, a business should take multiple backups throughout the day in order to cut down on the amount of time needed to restore operations to normalcy in the event of a data-loss event.
This brings us to another dilemma; multiple backups put more strain on your server, which in turn complicates the end-user's experience. You'll want a backup solution that can take incremental backups that ensure that the most recent information is available if a restore is necessary. Instead of backing up each and every file, it's better to only backup the altered files, which clears the way for you to run multiple backups throughout the day without clogging up network traffic. This means all of your data is backed up, but your backup solution isn't churning through files you haven't changed in years.
Automated Recovery is Less Time-Consuming and More Efficient
Rebooting your business's files using your data backup can take a lot longer than you would like, especially if you want to get back in business as soon as possible. An automated disaster recovery system can perform the backup without causing downtime and in a relatively short amount of time (usually a few minutes). The margin of error is drastically reduced, and you can return to business quickly, so long as you have the proper hardware to get back on track.
Business Solutions & Software Group's Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution integrates data backup with disaster recovery services, helping your business get back on its feet after a catastrophic event. We'll test your backups and ensure that they are optimal for recovery when you need them most. For more information about our BDR solution, give us a call at (954) 575-3992.
