PROTECT YOUR DATA…The essential first step to any IT strategy

by | Dec 8, 2011 | IT Consulting

In today’s economic environment most businesses wants to save money, become more efficient, or become more competitive in their markets. As an IT consultant I am always in a position to give advice, help my clients make good, knowledge based decisions. I want my clients to develop an IT strategy that will help them save time and money and is aligned with their business goals and objectives. So it goes without saying that not every company will or should have the same IT strategy. But there is one overwhelmingly prevailing piece of advice and strategy that I give all my clients no matter the size or type of organization. This would be, protect your Data and have a Business Continuity Plan.

Data protection isn’t a new concept, it isn’t hard to do or all that costly given the potential financial impact to a business if data is lost, stolen or corrupted. Data really is a company’s most valuable asset. Having a reliable data backup/recovery system in place is critical and should be considered a top priority in any business’s operational plan. So as much as I enjoy helping companies design, develop and deploy IT strategies for success let’s make it simple, at least initially. Protect your business assets first. Please, get a back-up solution and have it consistently and routinely monitored and maintained. Take the needed time to create and implement a Business Continuity Plan. Taking the time to create this plan is an essential step to reducing the risk of a down time and financial loss. Below are some examples of commonly used BDR solutions. Take some time to discuss these solutions with your trusted technology partner. Have them help you chose one that best suits your business.

Three Ways to Back-up Your Data

The image below provides an overview comparison between these backup types, for detailed information about each back up type consult with your technology provider.

Backup Solution Schedule Recovery Time Local Offsite/Cloud Server(s) Covered Workstation(s) Covered

Backup Appliance (BDR)
BDR has a rapid virtualization capability that can be configured to function as a failover server in minutes. This eliminates costly downtime due to server hardware failures. The BDR virtualizes servers directly from the backup image so there is no need to convert backup images to virtual hard disks.

 Constant Snapshot Nearly Instant (30-60 minutes) X X X

Bare Metal (Software)
Bare Metal BackUp is a unified platform that supports backup and recovery at both the file and system levels, as well as data protection for physical, virtual and cloud environments. It also supports various backup media, including disk, tape and cloud targets for off-site replication. One solution performs a single-pass backup all at once for all your files, folders, applications and operating systems. You benefit from intuitive, easy-to-implement technology that reduces your IT operating and maintenance costs.

 Daily Fast (4-6 Hours) X X X X

Data Only
Data Only Backup is as the name implies a backup of only your data. As opposed to the other two backup methods defined above (BDR & Bare Metal) which are backing up the Operating System, Settings, Software, and Data. A typical Data Only Backup will capture items such as documents, images, database files, and email. Since these types of backup only capture the data, they are the most time consuming to restore in the event of a failure.

 Daily Slow (2-3 Days) X X X X

 
Please contact us (859) 757-2804 if you would like to learn more about how Data Backup Solutions can help your business.