What is data backup?
Data backup means creating a copy ofthe data on your system that you use for recovery in case your original data islost or corrupted. You can also usebackupto recover copies of older files if you have deletedthem from your system.
Many businesses and organizationsprotect their critical data with backup, making it one of the key components ofa company's disaster recovery plan and business continuity strategy.
Data backup — Why is it important?
Companies are very dependent ondata. Whereas a person cannot survive without air, water, and food, businessescannot survive without data. Forty percent of companies that do not have properbackup ordisaster recovery plansdo not survive a disaster.
Every company must designate a backupadministrator to handle the entire backup strategy, including backup solutionsand tools; the backup scope, schedule and infrastructure; the network andstorage;recovery time objectives(RTOs); recovery point objectives (RPOs),etc.
Your company must have a backupstrategy and solution in place. Otherwise, you can be a statistic.
Data backup — What to back up?
The backup administrator's primaryinitial task is to understand, define, and manage what data to back up andprotect. To reduce the risk of data loss, you want to back up files anddatabases and back up your operating systems, applications, configuration —everything you can. If you use virtualization, you want to back up your hostsand management console, not just yourvirtual machines (VMs). If you use a cloudinfrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), you want to include that in your scope. Anddon't forget mobile devices — your CEO's tablet could hold critical companydata that can be more important than the data stored on some of your servers.
Revisit your backup scope every timeyou change the infrastructure. New devices, solutions, and services all usedata. Your mantra is "back up everything, back up often."
When you choose abackup solution,be sure that it can protect all your data. Otherwise, some data will gounprotected, or you may need multiple backup solutions. For example, if youhave a physical server in your data center, a solution that only backs up yourVMs isn't enough. Instead, it would be best if you implement multiple,disparate solutions — or better still — use a solution that backs up everydevice and system in your backup scope.
Types ofdata to back up
Every business should back up allimportant data files and documents, including financial data (e.g., credit cardtransactions, invoices and billings, accounts receivable and payable files,payroll), customer information, vendor information, partner information,communications and email accounts, all applications and databases, projectmanagement files, personnel records, the operating system, configuration filesand any other files created by your employees.
How often to back up data?
Once you decide on the scope of yourbackups, the next important decision is how often you need to back up anddefine a backup schedule.
Your backup schedule depends highlyon the volume of data you create daily. Best data protection practices suggestinitiating afull backupat least once a week. You can make one outside ofbusiness hours or on the weekends.
However, it's crucial to createincremental (or differential) backups once a day between full backups. Thatway, you ensure that all business- and user-created data is stored securelyshould a data loss event occur.
While the above follows a generalrule of thumb, some businesses manage extensive volumes of data. In such cases,creating one backup per day may not be sufficient. On the other hand, SMBshandling smaller data volumes may opt for a more affordable backup plan,packing less storage space. In such cases, creating daily backups may quicklyfill up your storage unless you audit it frequently.
To ensure the right backup frequencyapproach, companies must calculate the data they handle daily (or weekly) andschedule backups to complement their data creation averages.
Data backup — RPO and RTO
Your colleagues are constantlychanging data, and in the event of a disaster, all the data created from thelatest backup to the moment of failure will be lost. This period is called the recoverypoint objective (RPO) — the maximum period that you are willing to lose data onyour systems because of an event.
A shorter RPO means losing fewerdata, but it requires more backups, more storage capacity, and more computingand network resources for the backup to run. A longer RPO is more affordable,but it means losing more data.
Many small and medium-sizedcompanies usually define an RPO of 24 hours, which means you need to back updaily. With modern backup solutions, you can implement RPOs in as little as afew minutes. You can also have tiered RPOs — shorter RPOs for critical systemsand longer RPOs for secondary systems.
Another essential variable isrecovery time objective (RTO) — how fast you can recover from the moment of adisaster to the moment you return to normal operations. When systems are down,your company loses money, and you need to recover fast to minimize losses.However, as with RPO, a shorter RTO requires faster storage, networks andtechnologies — so it is more expensive.
For many companies, an RTO of a fewhours is the norm.
Involve your business stakeholdersin discussions on system RPOs and RTOs. Once these are defined, you can decideon your solutions and storage.
Data backup solutions
Multiple types of backup solutionsand tools are available on the market to deliver different RPOs and RTOs, andhandle different scopes. Here are the most popular ones.
Hardwareappliances
These appliances often includestorage, a 19" rack-mounted device that you install and connect to yournetwork. The machines are easy to install and configure. In most cases, you donot need to provision a separate server or operating system or install anysoftware. The agents installed on your systems perform the backups, and youaccess the solution via a graphical interface provided with the appliance.
However, remember that if you have ahardware appliance and it fails, you lose your entire data backup solution.Even if you backed up to a secondary location, you need to reprovision thebackup solution before recovering, which increases your recovery times.
Softwaresolutions
Software solutions are installed onyour own systems and handle the backup process. Many solutions allow you to useexisting systems, but some require dedicated servers provisioned just forbackup. For these, you need to install and configure the operating system andthe backup software. In many cases, you can install the software on a virtualmachine (VM).
Software solutions offer greaterflexibility than hardware appliances, especially if your infrastructure changesoften. Also, software solutions can be less expensive than purchasing ahardware appliance bundle, and they also allow you to choose and provision yourown storage.
Cloudservices
Numerous vendors offerbackup-as-a-service (BaaS)— a cloud-based offering that allows you toprovision and run your backups from the vendor's or service provider's cloudinfrastructure by installing lightweight agents on your machines. The BaaS iseven simpler than software because there are no systems to provision and nooperating systems to configure.
Of course, if your organizationdeals with sensitive data or is subject to regulatory requirements, you willneed to check if a BaaS solution is acceptable.
Hybriddata backup solutions
The latest innovation in the backupworld is an all-in-onehybrid backup solution, allowing you to install thesoftware or use it as a cloud service. These solutions combine the best of bothworlds, making them the best choice for many organizations.
Different approaches to the data backup process
There are three types of data backupvendors offer to ensure the best storage utilization and the bestbackup/recovery speeds:
Fullbackup
Copy everything you wish to protect.The first time you back up a system, you want to perform a full backup. Butfull backups take time, so software providers also resort to other types ofdata backup.
Differentialbackup
Differential backup focuses only onthe files that have changed since the last full backup. For example, supposeyou do a full backup on Sunday. On Monday, you back up only the files thatchanged since Sunday; on Tuesday, you back up only the files that changed sinceSunday; and so on, until the next full backup. Differential backups are quickerthan full backups because so much fewer data is backed up. But the amount ofdata being backed up grows with each differential backup until the next fullbackup. Differential backups are more flexible than full backups but stillunwieldy to do more than about once a day — especially as the next full backupapproaches. Differential backups are sometimes called "cumulativeincremental backups."
Incrementalbackup
These also back up only the changeddata, but they only back up the data that has changed since the last backup —whether a full orincremental backup. These are sometimes called"differential incremental backups."
How do incremental backups work?
If you do an incremental backup onTuesday, you only back up the data that changed since the incremental backup onMonday. The result is much smaller, faster backups. With incremental backups,the shorter the interval between the new and last backup, the fewer data thereis to be backed up. In fact, with sophisticated backup software like AcronisCyber Protect, the backups are so small and fast that you can back up everyhour or even more frequently, depending on the work you're doing and howimportant it is to have current backups.
While incremental backups give muchgreater flexibility and granularity (time between backups), they have areputation for taking longer to restore because the backup has to bereconstituted from the last full backup and all the incremental backups since.
Specificdata backup methods
Alongside the major three, there areseveral scenario-specific backup approaches.
- Synthetic full backups
In this variation of differentialbackup, the backup server creates an extra full copy based on the original fullbackup and data gathered from incremental backup copies.
- Reverse-incremental backups
Here, the complete backup is createdregarding the difference between previous backups, starting with the lastsuccessful backup. The backup software focuses on the increment at each backupbased on the difference compared to the previous day's increment. The incrementfrom the last completed backup is added to the current-day backup.
This enables instant access to themost recent backup version — you won't need to restore all previous incrementsto recover the complete set and obtain an up-to-date backup. However, findingthe last version of a document will require going back to an earlierrestore point.
- Incremental-forever backups
Incremental-forever backups capturethe entire data set and then add incremental backups to it from a specificpoint forward. This approach compresses the backup window, enabling quickerdata recovery access. The process of backing up only changed data blocks iscalled "delta differencing."
- Hot backups
Also known as "dynamic backup,"hot backups are applied to data available to users during the update process.This approach negates user downtime and ensures optimal productivity.
However, this method carries apotential downside. If the data undergoes changes during the backup process,the resulting copy might differ from the data's final state.
Backup storage
A copy of your data is stored inbackup storage, and you must have it selected provisioned, and handy forsuccessful backup (and recovery).
Databackup to local or USB disks
If you have enough capacity on yourlocal disks, you can back up to them or to other removable media (e.g.,external USB drives).
Removable media backups are fast andconvenient, and you don't need a network. The downside of local backups is thatif the system is destroyed by a fire or a flood, your backups can also bedestroyed if they are stored in the same location. Also, in many cases, youneed to manage these backups on a computer-by-computer basis, which makes itcumbersome for larger environments.
Local and USB disk backups are bestfor quick backups of a small number of systems and are designed to recoverindividual files or systems in the event of software failure. (for example, youcan back up Windows to abootable USB, so you'd have it available for recoveryif a failure occurs)
DataBackup to network shares and NAS
This is one of the most commonstorage options. With a centralized NAS (network attached storage), SAN (storagearea network), or simple network share, you can store many or all companybackups in one place and restore a file, system, or the entire data center inthe event of a virus attack or data corruption. Yet as with local disks, NASand SAN will not help you recover data in the event of a major area disaster,such as a hurricane or typhoon that destroys your entire facility.
Databackup to tapes
To recover from a major disaster,you must store a copy of your data in an off-site location, preferably at least100 miles from your primary data center.
One of the traditional ways to dothat is to store copies of your data on tape devices and physically ship thetapes to a remote location. Modern tape technologies, such as LTO-7, allow youto store up to 2.5 TB of compressed data on a single tape, making them quiteefficient if you need to protect large amounts of data.
The downside of a tape backup islengthy RTOs, as you need to physically ship the tape back when you need torecover data. Also, some backup solutions have limited recovery options. Forexample, you can recover an entire system from tape but not a single file orfolder. In addition, you need a tape drive, autoloader, or tape library tocreate backups and perform recoveries, and these devices could be relativelyexpensive.
Databackup to cloud storage
The modern alternative to tapebackup iscloud storage. With this solution, you subscribe to a specific storagecapacity in the cloud vendor's or service provider's data center. You do notneed any hardware as you do with tape drives (unless you rely on private cloudstorage), but you do need an internet connection to send backups to the cloud.Your vendor may have ways to eliminate the problems with uploading largeamounts of data by offering physical data shipping or an initial seedingprogram.
Data backup storage — which one is the best?
Every storage solution hasdrawbacks. To select the right solution, you must develop a storage strategybased on your unique business requirements, RPOs, and RTOs. You also need adata backup solution that follows the industry-accepted3-2-1 backup approach—store your data in three places, on two types of storage, with one copy storedoff-site. Great examples of the 3-2-1 strategy are disk-to-disk-to-tape (D2D2T)and disk-to-disk-to-cloud (D2D2C) solutions. With these solutions, you back up yourdata to your central network storage and then copy that backup to tape oroffsite cloud storage.
Advantagesof robust data backup software
- Continuous data protection
Having encrypted data backupsensures no intruder can access them without a decryption key.
Reliable backup software can helpyour business store all critical data in secure backup storage and develop acomprehensive disaster recovery plan to quickly restore data even if a disasterhits.
- Real-time data security
Having fortified data storage iscrucial for all data at rest. However, reliable backup software ensuresoperational data and data in transit are protected to their teeth. You canapply advanced end-to-end protection for all operational devices and storagemedia, invoke MFA to manage cloud storage access, and rely on AI-poweredanti-ransomware to negate any data loss event.
- Redundant backup systems
Data protection requires backupfiles in multiple backup systems. With the proper solution, you can backup datato local offline backup, private cloud storage, off-site backup data storage,and even portable removable media.
Having redundant data backupsensures you can retrieve data successfully from data backups regardless oflocation.
- Large storage capacity
Automated data backups areconvenient, and businesses can easily create full backup after full backupwithout regard for storage space. While physical data storage can fill upquickly,cloud backupstorage can scale infinitely to handle more data ifneeded.
Nevertheless, it's not recommendedto duplicate data backups in the same storage media. Ideally, you willregularly audit your backups to keep storage space optimized and reduce costs.
- Efficient data management
Data backup and recovery can bechallenging unless you have a comprehensive plan in place.
A robust solution can procure astep-by-step plan for your backup process anddisaster recoveryprotocols. Inaddition to frequent backups, you'd be able to restore only the data criticalfor day-to-day operations to avoid downtime in the event of a disaster.
- Costs management
Scalable solutions let you scale upor down on demand to spend the optimal amount on data security and dataprotection.
What's more, countering data lossmeans you won't need to rebuild essential company data, saving you time,effort, and ultimately, expense.
- Efficient company performance
Manual data backup can be incrediblyoverwhelming — especially for larger organizations. If your company reliessolely on local servers, you'd need a dedicated team to handle the backup,audit, management, and recovery of critical data files.
On the other hand, a proper solutionwill store data effectively, while your employees can focus onbusiness-critical tasks unhindered.
- Enhanced competitiveness
Data is the bread and butter ofmodern business processes. Accessing client data from anywhere, anytime,relates to higher customer satisfaction. The latter, in turn, translates to amore loyal customer base and a better brand image.
Efficient data management puts yourcompany ahead of the competition and ensures you stay at the top of your gamein the long run.
- Compliance benefits
Modern compliance legislation invokesa legal need to store data accordingly. Failure to follow the guidelines mayresult in fines or legal ramifications.
A comprehensive data backup solutioncan cover all compliance aspects, enabling easy tracking for auditing purposes.
The 3-2-1 backup strategy
To ensure your data is safe — nomatter what happens — you must follow the 3-2-1 backup strategy. It stipulatesthat you store your data in three places, on two types of storage, with onecopy stored off-site, preferably in cloud backup.
Why do you need a data backup solution?
Your company's survival depends onthe survival of your company data. To implement a reliable data backupstrategy, define your business objectives — the backup scope, RPOs and RTOs;implement proper solutions; provision the storage or combination of multiplestorages; and execute and monitor the backups.
Only then can you be sure that yourcompany can continue to operate safely, even when unforeseen events occur.
