A backup alone is not enough – why companies should test their recovery

Many companies back up their data regularly and assume that this provides sufficient protection. However, having a backup by no means guarantees that the data can be restored quickly and completely in an emergency.

This is precisely where one of the greatest risks in IT lies.

A backup is only truly valuable once it has been verified that the saved data can actually be restored.

Why backups are essential for businesses

Company data is now one of a business's most important resources.

These include, for example:

• Customer data
• Invoices and accounting records
• Emails
• Project documents
• Contracts
• Files on servers and NAS systems
• Microsoft 365 data
• virtual machines
• Databases

If such data is lost, critical business processes can come to a standstill within minutes.

The causes for this can vary greatly.

A technical defect, a cyberattack, an accidentally deleted folder or even a faulty update can already be enough to make important systems or data inaccessible.

Having an existing backup does not automatically mean security

Many companies merely check whether a backup job has been successfully completed.

That is important – but not sufficient.

For example, a backup can be shown as successful even though individual files are corrupted or important systems have not been fully backed up.

Therefore, it should be checked regularly:

• Are all important systems part of the data backup?
• Can a complete server be restored?
• How long does the restoration take?
• Are older backup versions also available?
• Is at least one backup disconnected from the production network?

The 3-2-1 backup rule

A tried and tested basis for professional data backup is the so-called 3-2-1 rule.

This should at least:

3 copies of the data

on

2 different storage media

to exist.

At least

1 copy should be located outside of your own IT environment.

For example, a company could store its production data on the server, back it up additionally on a local NAS, and keep another encrypted copy in a cloud environment.

This means that even in the event of a major failure, there is still the option to fall back on an independent backup.

How often should a backup be carried out?

The correct frequency depends on how important the respective data is.

On systems where a lot of data changes daily, a daily or even more frequent backup can be useful.

Other data may possibly be backed up at longer intervals.

The crucial question is:

How many hours or days of work could the company lose in the worst-case scenario?

If a company is allowed to lose a maximum of one working day, a weekly backup, for example, is not sufficient.

The backup strategy should therefore be aligned with the actual business processes.

How quickly does a company need to be operational again?

Alongside data backup, the required recovery time also plays an important role.

A business should know which systems are particularly critical.

A failure of a non-critical archive system can potentially be tolerated for several hours.

If, on the other hand, the central server, the merchandise management system or the entire email communication fails, significant financial damage is quickly incurred.

Therefore, it should be determined even before a failure which systems must be restored first.

Professional backup is part of a holistic IT strategy

Data backup should not be viewed in isolation.

A reliable IT infrastructure connects multiple areas together:

• IT security
• Backup & Disaster Recovery
• Monitoring
• Cloud solutions
• Network & Firewall
• User and permission management
• routine maintenance

Only the interplay of these measures ensures that a company can react quickly in an emergency.

A backup should not just exist.

It should be carried out, monitored and tested regularly.

Because when it really matters, the message „Backup successful“ doesn't count.

The crucial point is:

Can your data and systems be restored quickly?

K&S NexTech supports you in reliably protecting your company data and developing a suitable backup strategy for your IT infrastructure.