Failing to protect data can damage your company’s reputation, which means fewer customers, partners, and potential employees will be willing to work with you. That could have disastrous consequences.
So, it’s not all too surprising that you need to take all aspects of data security within your company seriously. A large part of achieving this is ensuring that you back up data so it won’t be lost or stolen.
Data can be stolen by cybercriminals, but it can also be lost due to hardware failure or natural disaster. Regular data backups will prevent costly downtime in such emergencies. Data backups are absolutely essential to keeping your business safe and progressing.
How Do Data Backups Work?
Put simply, data backups use a secondary system outside of your main data storage system to regularly copy and secure your data and applications. The purpose of this is to ensure that there is always a recent copy of your data in the event that the main files you work with become corrupted, stolen, or lost.
The process can be:
- Automated
- Completed manually
- A combination of the two (often a monitored service)
Running data backups is essential. Regular backups ensure you always have the most recent version of your data and software safely stored. But it’s also extremely important to monitor your data backups to ensure that they have been completed properly. A failed backup is hardly worth more than no backup at all.
The Main Types of Data Backup
There are three main types of data backup. These are a full data backup, an incremental data backup, and a differential data backup.
- Full data backup. A full data backup will backup all allocated or determined files, folders, applications and data. This type of backup takes a lot of time to perform, but does ensure that everything you want to be protected is protected.
- Incremental data backup. Incremental data backups only backup anything that has changed since the last backup. These are faster to perform and use less storage than full data backups, but restoration takes longer.
- Differential data backup. A differential data backup is a form of backup that is between a full and incremental backup. Differential data backups will backup all data that has changed since the last full data backup.
Main Types of Backup Storage
Just as there are several different ways to backup data, there are also several different locations where your backup data can be stored.
- Local or on-site. Storage in the same building as the original files.
- Off-site. Storage in a separate location from the originals.
- Online/cloud. Storage accessible through the internet.
Each storage location has its own benefits and weaknesses. Which you decide to use will depend on your business and the amount of data you are backing up. For example, on-site backup storage is good for small business owners who work from home. Cloud storage is excellent for business with larger amounts of data and a remote workforce.
Ensuring Good Data Backup Strategies for Businesses
Data backup is extremely important for all businesses, but it doesn’t take care of itself.
One easy way to make sure your data backups are performed frequently and correctly is to use managed IT services. These expert services will take the work and pressure surrounding data backups off your shoulders. Then you’ll have the peace of mind and time you need to focus on more progressive areas of your business!
