The Essentials of BDR-Backup, Disaster, & Recovery
February 15th, 2024 by admin
As technology has spread through every department in your business, information systems and data are critical to every aspect of your operation. Imagine waking up one day and finding your information is gone or in the hands of cybercriminals?
Financial Fallout: Imagine losing your financial records, client information, or proprietary data. The cost of recovering from such a loss could be astronomical.
Reputation Damage: In the digital age, trust is everything. If your customers find out their data is not secure with you, your reputation could take a nosedive.
Would your organization survive? Chances are the answer to that question is no. Studies consistently state that over 70% of businesses will fail when they lose their data.
The key to survival is understanding the threats you face and having a data backup and disaster recovery plan in place to rebuild should a loss occur.
Threats to Consider
Threats to technology infrastructure come in many different forms. Fire, tornados, and flooding can all cause catastrophic loss. By far the biggest threat, however, is Ransomware. Ransomware uses various methods to gain access to your data and then encrypt your files. Cybercriminals hold the encryption key until you pay a ransom for releasing your data.
Whatever the cause of your loss, having a sound data back up and recovery plan should be a key component of your technology strategy.
Local vs Cloud vs Hybrid
Where to put your data is the next question you must answer. There are a few options on this.
Backing up to a local device can be beneficial. The biggest benefit is being able to quickly restore your systems. The downside is the fact that it is local. Any fire or other natural disaster can destroy your back up as easily as your primary. Proximity and access can also allow cyber criminals to gain access to local backup systems easier than the cloud.
Cloud based data backup is offsite and more removed than a local back up. This makes it safer and more secure from potential threats. The downside is a system restore is dependent on bandwidth speed. If your data size is large, this can be quite time consuming. The longer the restore is running, the more likely you are to have a glitch somewhere along the process.
Determine how long you can afford to be without your data and the size of your database. If you cannot afford any downtime, you can have redundant systems in the cloud and perform a seamless cutover. This can be expensive to maintain and to operate, but it makes recovery almost instantaneous.
Oftentimes, the best solution for both speed of recovery and security of information is to deploy a combination of both local and cloud.
BDR Strategy
Now that we have covered why you need BDR and the different ways you can store your data, let’s talk about implementing your plan. You want a solution that you can rely on when your business is depending on it. Here are some things to consider:
Automation
Anytime you have a system that requires human intervention, you have potential for error. Taking manual backups or requiring an employee to take back ups off site creates both an opportunity for failure and security risks. You want your data to be automatically backed up in the specific time intervals that you need.
Versioning
Human error can cause data loss as well. Sometimes we make mistakes. Whether it's accidentally deleting the wrong file or realizing that your last edit wasn't as brilliant as you thought, versioning will allow you to hit the reset button. It will also allow you to go back several versions if you have malware or a corrupt file to find a clean version of what you need.
Most cloud backup solutions keep multiple versions of your files, allowing you to roll back to a previous state. How many versions may depend on how often you are backing up your data, but the key is to have multiple versions.
Top-Notch Security
Your data is encrypted during transfer and while resting comfortably in the cloud servers. Many providers offer two-factor authentication for an extra layer of digital armor.
Disaster Recovery
Advanced backup solutions often come with disaster recovery options. When you upload your data to the cloud, it doesn't just sit in one place. It's scattered across multiple servers in various locations. So, even if one server goes out of order, your data is safe and sound on another.
Monitored & Tested
The worst time to realize your data backup is not working or missing information is when you need it. Your BDR plan should include monitoring the progress of backups and sending alert notifications should a backup fail for any reason.
You should also have a process in place to periodically pull a backup and perform an actual recovery so you know all systems are working as they should.
The BDR Plan
The last element of your BDR plan is probably the most important, but possibly the most overlooked. Plan is the key word! When chaos hits, it is best to have a carefully laid out plan to give your team members a clear direction of actions and priorities to follow.
For data recovery, we prioritize which systems need to be recovered first, who are the key personnel that need to be informed and engaged, what vendors may be able to assist? For a cyber-attack, your first call should be to your cyber insurance emergency support line. Will you have that information if your computer is encrypted?
In the case of a catastrophic loss, your data recovery is only part of the plan. You will also need a plan for facilities, team assignments for sourcing space, equipment, etc.
We Can Help
It may seem overwhelming, but a solid BDR plan will save you time, anguish, and possibly your business itself. If you would like a free template of our BDR recovery plan, please contact us at 888-700-02337 or fill out the contact page at www.Langcompany.com
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