| Once a business accepts the need for regular remote | | | | It's easy to remember to create the backup plan |
| backups, the IT department requires a written | | | | since it is a procedure that affects your company |
| backup and restore procedure. Creating such a plan | | | | every day. However what happens after disaster |
| doesn't have to be difficult and will reduce confusion | | | | strikes? After major equipment failure, the |
| so that your data storage system is protected. | | | | department is likely to be in confusion. |
| Creating a Backup Plan | | | | There is pressure to get the data restored as quickly |
| When creating a backup plan, decide what data | | | | as possible as company operations can't continue until |
| should be included in the backup. Backup space costs | | | | the system is running again. Imagine how much |
| money. Nightly backups of files that haven't changed | | | | worse if the failure is due to a disaster like a fire. A |
| in over a year may not be the most cost effective | | | | detailed step-by-step restore plan is an integral part |
| solution. Isolating particular directories or file types | | | | of a comprehensive offsite data backup procedure. |
| can reduce the size of the backup while still | | | | A solid restore plan makes it that much easier to get |
| protecting important data. | | | | your business running smoothly again after disaster. |
| Any backup plan should include multiple copies in case | | | | You may need multiple plans for different |
| the backup file happens to be damaged at the same | | | | contingencies. Bad sectors on a hard drive might |
| time the main server is corrupted. It is even possible | | | | require restoring just a few files, while a catastrophic |
| for the system to crash during the backup operation, | | | | incident could involve fully reformatting and restoring |
| losing both your server and the backup. If you are | | | | your entire server. |
| overwriting your lone backup at the time, you just | | | | For best results, all offsite data backup and restore |
| lost everything. | | | | procedures should be fully tested by the personnel |
| The simplest redundancy plan is to have two | | | | who will be performing the operation. This may reveal |
| backups and alternate between them, however | | | | missing steps or inaccurate instructions. Tests will |
| many companies have more. A common practice is | | | | have to be conducted during a time the files involved |
| to have one backup for every weekday so there | | | | aren't in use, which usually means IT staff coming in |
| are five backup files, one for Monday, one for | | | | after hours. |
| Tuesday, and so on. | | | | When testing, make local backups of the files to be |
| Finally, your offsite data backup plan should include a | | | | tested in case the restore procedure goes wrong. |
| schedule of test restores. It is always possible you | | | | Though it may require a bit of time to create an |
| are backing up to a corrupt destination and none of | | | | offsite data backup and restore plan, once you have |
| your backups are intact. Ideally you should restore a | | | | a systematic, documented system in place offsite |
| few files every backup so you know the operation | | | | data backups will become a simple part of the regular |
| went through successfully. | | | | routine. If and when disaster strikes, it will be well |
| Don't Forget the Restore Plan | | | | worth the effort! |