Globally hacking attempts are rising all over the world with governments having to issue notices to businesses to ensure the best security practices are followed to avoid nation-state threat actors.
In conjunction twith the above uncontroled events such as extreme weather is raising the stress on power grids and increasing incidences of power outages. The risk that your production storage could have a power outage and lose the last few hours of work is real and rising. It’s vital to keep a quality, independent backup of production data, so you can meet expectations for a fast recovery.
Here are 7 strategies to keep your data safe and recovery ready.
1. Move backups to the cloud
By storing your backup data in a cloud data warehouse, you’ll be able to move it offsite and away from the risks of power outages and/or opportunistic hackers.
DataKnox, as a trusted third-party cloud-managed company, enhances the security of your backup data in the cloud data warehouse, employing advanced encryption and authentication measures to safeguard your information from potential data breaches, ensuring peace of mind for your valuable data assets.
Cloud backup storage also enables in-place recovery (also called instant recovery), whereby a virtual machine’s data store is instantiated on protected storage, so there’s no lag while data is copied across production storage.
2. Consider DRaaS
Once your backup is secured to the cloud, you can turn to other advanced recovery services that rely on it, like disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) in the cloud which some backup vendors are beginning to offer.
DRaaS applies cloud computing alongside cloud storage, storing virtual images of recovered applications in a way that both speeds up and reduces the cost of disaster recovery. DRaaS also makes it easier to test your recovery plans, increasing the likelihood that you’ll test more frequently.
3. Back up more often
Ransomware is one of the most widespread and common types of hacking attempts, but you don’t have to allow yourself to be vulnerable to it. By backing up more frequently, you can spike the guns of wannabe ransomware hackers, because you’ll be able to circumvent their blocks.
This means that the traditional once-in-24-hours backup simply isn’t enough. Your data needs to be updated several times a day, or more often depending on the service-level demands from your applications. Thanks to advanced block level incremental (BLI) backups, you can do this without having to copy entire folders or even entire files. BLI backups only copy the changed blocks, so they are fast and efficient.
4. Keep your runbook up to date
It’s rare to have to run a full recovery, but organizations need to be prepared for those instances when it is required. Total disaster recovery can be complex, with certain applications depending on other applications or processes to be up and running before they can start up again.
Best practice has long been for IT teams to document the order of recovery in a runbook, but documentation is tedious and time-consuming, plus executing it correctly brings its own challenges. Hence the recommendation to adopt runbook automation. Runbook automation capabilities help you to preset recovery order, simplify the process of keeping it updated, and enable you to execute the entire, pre-planned recovery with a single click.
5. Don’t use backup for long-term retention
Data retention and data backup are both vital processes, but you need to differentiate between your storage locations to operate either one successfully.
Data you retain for the long term has to comply with data privacy regulations, but backup storage doesn’t have granular controls for you to delete specific datasets or data types. If you keep data in backup storage for the long term, you could accidentally restore data that you promised to delete, and fall foul of compliance requirements.
Instead, use a data archive service for data retention, so you can select which files to move to backup and restore.
6. Include your endpoints
When formulating your data backup strategy, remember the data that lies in endpoints. Company devices like laptops, tablets, and even smartphones can contain valuable data that might not be stored anywhere else. If these devices are lost, stolen, or break down, all the data they contain could be lost for good.
Fortunately, modern endpoint backup systems can cover endpoints like devices too, copying the data they contain to the cloud alongside your main corporate data.
7. Don’t overlook SaaS platforms
The same warning holds true to SaaS platforms too. Many organizations mistakenly think that the data they enter into a SaaS solution is protected within it, but careful to look at the fine print, often it’s your responsibility to back up SaaS data.
To cope with these needs, look for data protection packages that cover SaaS offerings. Some integrate your SaaS platforms into your broader backup network, while others are SaaS-specific.
Keep your backup strategy up to date
Backing up your enterprise data is vital for ensuring your company can keep operating safely, but it doesn’t have to be a headache. By moving backup to the cloud, including runbook automation, endpoint and SaaS protection, and DRaaS; backing up more frequently; and separating between backup storage and long term retention, you’ll keep your organization safe no matter what happens.