The Importance of Data Backups

Running a business is a tough job. It’s important to keep your business running smoothly on a daily basis, but what happens when something goes wrong outside of your control? Even worse, what happens if that “something” is a loss of all of your critical client and company data?

According to the Linux System Administrators Guide, the four main reasons data losses happen are: hardware failures, software bugs, human action, and natural disasters.

If your company had file and data backups, they would be fine. No matter the disaster, whether it be human error or a huge storm, a data backup ensures that all your files are secure even if they are deleted.

One of the ways to best protect data and files is to look into a SAS 70 compliant facility or a company that uses one. SAS 70 stands for Statement on Auditing Standards Number 70: Service Organizations. These facilities are highly secure and house all data in one location. They are built around the idea of redundancy to help users maintain access to their data.  They have multiple power sources, including generators, and multiple internet providers to help transmit the data to and from users.  By backing up your data in one of these facilities, it will be safe and secure for whenever it is needed.

Another way to backup the files is by using storage replication. Storage replication is the real-time duplication of data over a storage area network. So as your company creates new files, they are automatically duplicated to a secure server where they will be housed. Using this method, your business does not have to forget to remember about backing up files; it is done automatically.

Virtual servers can also be used to store your data and files securely. These servers are kept in a separate location from the business and are used to, “…administer [the company’s] own file directories, add email accounts and address assignments, assign multiple domain names that resolve to a basic domain name without involvement from the ISP, manage their own logs and statistics analysis, and maintain passwords,” (Searchnetworking.techtarget.com).

Have any questions about your data backups or want to create them for the first time? Give us a call: (978) 356-8888.