How to Mitigate the Risk of Data Backup Failure with Cloud Backup
Data – Backup Failure. These three words strung together could mean the difference between a short-term shutdown or permanent closure for many businesses. To ensure that their data management plans are effective, business owners need to get to grips with how and why backups go wrong. They should also have confidence in their disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC) strategies.
what is “backup failure”?
In simple terms, data backups are a form of insurance. They ensure that a business has access to the most recent version of its data in the event it is hacked, stolen, lost, or deleted.
Having a recent backup prevents lost revenue and minimises disruption. However, when a data backup fails, the most recent data copy is unavailable, putting the business at risk of not having the necessary data available in an emergency for hours or even days.
Backups are only successful when both the production and backup environments are operational. In some instances, this can be more difficult to accomplish than it would appear. For instance, if a business continues to use only tape as a backup medium but has a distributed workforce; who changes the tape, how do users recover the data in the event of an incident? This risk has increased with the current pandemic, which has seen much of the world’s workforce working from home.
Obviously, not all backup failures are the result of an incident. Some common reasons for backup failures are down to everyday issues faced in the workplace.
common causes of data backup failure
- Load shedding – A lack of electricity at either the production site or backup site
- Storage – The disk or tape storage may be faulty or even corrupted
- Environment – Overheating in the data centre
- Human error – Non-automated tasks increase the risk of human error
- Damage – Water or fire damage to computers
- Malware attacks – Can cause backups to run incorrectly
All this room for error means businesses are moving towards using automated cloud backup as an additional backup or as an alternative to offsite data backup environments. Put simply, an automated cloud backup environment is much safer and a more guaranteed form of ‘insurance’ when it comes to the secure storage of data.
evolving to cloud backup
Business owners need to adapt their strategy as as their business evolves in a post-pandemic, digitally driven world!
Cloud backup, also known as remote or online backup, stores a virtual copy of a database in an offsite location. This protects the data in the unfortunate event of equipment failure, fire, flood, or other catastrophe. This backup method is much more secure than relying on dodgy electricity supplies, faulty storage systems, and human error, or even a lockdown when employees don’t have access to the backup environment.
With online cloud backup, in the event of an unforeseen catastrophe, a business could be up and running on line even before the physical site is fully functioning.
final thoughts on mitigating the risk of backup failure
Cloud backup and basic data management principles can strengthen a company’s data protection strategy. It’s also the virtual answer to avoidable compliance breaches, something businesses want to avoid with the Protection of Personal Information Act in effect. If you haven’t thought about implementing strategies to help avoid data backup failure, now is the time to start working on that!