Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
Quite often we encounter corrupted data; although nothing new it can come at the most inconvenient time. Simple measures and preventive steps can help you plan for the unexpected. Remember its HARDWARE. It’s not a matter of IF it’s going to fail, it’s a matter or WHEN it’s going to fail. Here are a few ways to prepare for the inevitable.
- Collocation hosting and offsite site remote backup
- Real time data replication and storage
- Live state recovery
- Diligence with local backup and tape rotation
- Up to date warranty of equipment
- Best practices and protocol diligence
Some of the above are more advanced methods of backup BUT they are the most reliable and obtainable in the event of ANY kind of disaster. Back up to tape is always the first and widely used method as long as the schedule of tape changing and rotation is followed. When we engage a client for the first time and we talk about backup the client is usually confident to say “We back up every night!!” our immediate response is “That’s good, but when was the last time you performed a test restore of that backup?” OR “When was the last time you purchased new tapes since your existing tapes are 3 years old???” at that point the lack of confidence fades and the reality sets in. Listen, these issues happen every day, the office administrator or business owner isn’t expected to know these intricacies relating to backup diligence. This is simply the most overlooked, easiest task for disaster recovery. We’re here to help, not point fingers.
When was the last time you performed a test restore?