Data Backup and Protection
What is data backup and protection?
What is data backup? What is data protection? These questions may sound as simple as they look, but the answers can be much more complicated. Data backups and protection are important parts of any business continuity plan. It is crucial to know how to protect your digital assets using different tools and techniques, but it can be difficult to decide which method is the best for your business.
Data backup is a process of copying digital assets in order to protect them from loss or damage. It also provides fast recovery if an unexpected event occurs that affects computer files. There are many different ways to create backups, but most businesses use one or more of these methods: at-rest (offline) and in-transit (online).
At-rest backups are stored in a secure location. There are many ways to store the backup, including with an optical disc or in cloud storage. If someone gains access to your at-rest data, you do not have much time to detect the problem because it happens while the files are being copied. In-transit backups are sent over a network or device to another server. It can be helpful because you do not need to worry about storing the backup, but the risk of data loss increases if your internet connection is slow (increased latency) or goes down completely.
Both methods have their benefits and weaknesses, which means that there is no universal backup solution. You need to decide which one is right for your company and research how to back up your digital assets. It is also highly recommended that you use more than one method, because this increases the speed of data restoration and reduces the risk of losing all your files in case something happens with a single backup copy.
Data protection is an umbrella term that refers to all the tools and techniques used to keep your data safe. Most businesses use multiple security measures, such as network monitoring and firewalls, but data protection also includes data backup and recovery solutions. The three main goals of protecting your files are:
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prevent loss or damage
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detect and recover from the loss or damage
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minimize downtime, if recovery is required
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Data protection should not be confused with disaster recovery (DR). The two terms are often used interchangeably, but they mean different things. While data backup solutions provide security against accidental file loss or hardware failure, DR is a set of policies and procedures that allow a company to operate during a disaster.
Hard drives don't last forever
Have you had your computer for a long period of time? Are you past due on backing up your data because you were going to do it "later today or tomorrow"? It is time to stop procrastinating and protect your data.
There are countless threats to your data out there, all of which should not be taken lightly. Threats like ransomware, viruses, data corruption, or just degradation over time are very real.
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If you're like most of us, you likely have old hard drives floating around with important documents, family pictures, or other miscellaneous pieces of digital importance. For years those hard drives, external storage units, or other media have worked great. Unfortunately, the lifespan of those media units are not designed to last that long.
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One issue could set you back hundreds of dollars trying to recover the data, hours of time time lost resyncing passwords and most importantly - the possibility of not getting those important documents, family pictures and more back.
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If you are guilty of postponing backing up your data, or perhaps don't know how, we're here to help! Let A & G Internet Services safeguard your digital assets now and give you peace of mind knowing you are secured.
