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The Basics of Small Business Backups [plus tips]

We’re going back to the basics with how to create a backup strategy that fits your needs and budget. Here are a few tips to help you get started.

Protecting against data loss and unexpected downtime relies on a complete backup plan. So, how can you make sure what you need is available when you need it?

Let’s go through the basics on how to create a backup strategy that fits your needs and budget.

Here are a few tips for planning your backup strategy.

Backup Tip #1: Decide what data needs to be protected.

If you can’t do business without it, back it up! Classifying data into different levels of importance will help you plan how to backup your data (backup tips #2 and #3).

Backup Tip #2: Determine where your backups should live.

There are several options for where to store your backups. Each is designed to fit different needs, and it is important for organizations to use several in their backup strategy. The 3-2-1 method encourages you to have at least 3 copies of your data to live in at least 2 places with one being offsite.

  • An on-premise backup is a great solution for quickly recovering files from a server in your office.
  • Offsite or cloud backups use the internet to send backups to a secure, remote location, giving you the added protection in the event of a disaster. The flexibility of the cloud makes it an ideal backup solution for files that live on your laptop.

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Backup Tip #3: Set a schedule for how often backups will occur.

The frequency of your backups will need to be based on how often it changes. Data that changes throughout the day requires an intra-daily backup to minimize potential data loss.

Backup Tip #4: Add monitoring and testing to confirm backups are working as intended.

Backups can fail. If they do, it means that future backups are likely to fail as well. Finding and resolving errors quickly is important. Also, regularly testing your ability to restore data from backups will give you peace of mind that you can get to what you need, when you need it.

Backup Tip #5: Build a disaster recovery / business continuity plan.

In the event of a disaster, how long until your business will be up and running? Creating a disaster recovery plan will help you to identify the recovery strategies and resources needed in order to match your risk tolerance.

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