If disaster strikes, are you ready?
As Mother Nature has shown recently, disaster can, and will, happen. During those times of disaster, first and foremost on our minds are the things we value the most. Thus, escape routes and meeting places are established. But have you given the same thoughts to the things most valuable to your business? If the office were destroyed, does your data have an escape plan or an offsite location where it is safe?
Good backups are essential for ensuring that if disaster strikes, your data is safe and available for you to use. Backups should be run regularly and at least one backup rotated offsite to ensure the best chance of your data surviving. There are many options for backups and what is best for you will be determined by the criticality and sensitivity of the data. An audit of your current backup system and needs will assist in determining holes.
Please view the information below on preparing your data for disasters. Remember a byte of prevention is worth a grand of cure.
There are several backup types that suit different backup needs.
· Tape Backup – Used for nightly backups – data is never more than 24 hours old
o Tandberg - http://www.tandbergdata.com/us/
o Media should be rotated offsite
§ http://www.ironmountain.com/dataprotection/vault/
o Onsite media should be protected in a fireproof safe
· Hardware Appliances – Provide continuous backup, can be used for offsite storage as well
o SonicWALL CDP - http://www.sonicwall.com/us/products/backup_and_recovery.html
§ Appliance that sits on site
§ Can backup remote machines
§ Can sync to an offsite storage facility
o LiveVault - http://www.ironmountain.com/digital/server/
§ Managed solution
§ Provides offsite backup