One of the most valuable assets today is data. In this highly digitalized world of information, data proves to be a crucial component without which work can stop or even incur losses. Whether you are an individual or an owner of an organization, you need to protect the most significant data by having an adequate backup. Having the backup of data should be the number one priority today for everyone.
While people are usually aware of the risks of losing the data from the system and take precautions by having backups, they tend to make some common and basic mistakes. These mistakes are often ignored or never realized till they try to retrieve a backup one fine day and discover that there is no usable backup at all.
This article will look at some of the biggest mistakes people make while taking data backups.
Single backup approach
If you have been using only a single storage medium and keeping all the data in that single location, it is a recipe for disaster. Not distributing data across different storage mediums and geographies exposes them to the risk of human error, viruses, hackers, and natural disasters.
An excellent way to safeguard one’s data is to follow the 3-2-1-1 rule. It means having three copies of data stored on two different media types; for instance, one copy should be stored off-site and the other on-site.
Not checking backups
Just installing backup programs and then forgetting about it is common among many users. It is common for changes in the system, like new applications added to the tech stack, employees creating new folders, changing file structure, etc. It means old backups scripts become obsolete and useless. They remain unnoticed and discovered when needed in times of emergency. Whether it is a small or large enterprise, it is important to periodically do a backup audit, preferably every two to three months.
People make another simple mistake to back up the data. However, they do not check whether the backed-up data is backed up accurately or not. Around 60% of data backups tend to fail, and 50% of the data restore fails at the crucial time. A simple step would be to check the backup data files or even download them to see whether the data was correctly copied and usable in the future.
No Backup or inconsistent backup
No backup is also a backup blunder. It is the most common mistake people make, yet it is easy to fix. Such a situation happens due to negligence despite having backup programs configured in the system. Disaster can strike at any time in the form of a cyber-attack or human error.
Keeping this in mind, the first step will be to activate the backup process and put it in place. Also, there has to be a backup strategy. Frequent data backups are the way to go with backups running at least once a day to having continuous backups.
Dependence on Physical storage
Relying on physical or local storage has been the most reliable storage option for businesses and individuals. Data backups can be kept in discs, external hard disk drives, flash drives. They are tangible and visible, giving one assurance of having secured data. However, this physical storage is susceptible to dangers like fires, floods, heating, theft, or getting misplaced. Storing data in cloud storage is more reliable. They protect against physical disasters. Today, 93% of organizations use cloud-based storage.
In 2019, more than 53% of internet users used cloud storage to save their documents, pictures, videos, music, etc. The benefit of having cloud storage is that one can get unlimited space for costs cheaper than buying and maintaining the ever-growing hardware for physical storage. Cloud storage is also beneficial when it comes to on-site data. Storing all the data at a single location makes it vulnerable to attacks. Any downtime can result in millions of dollars worth of losses to organizations.
Enabling versioning on backup data protects data against most instances of data loss including data corruption, malware attacks, and data deletion.
Not effectively utilizing automation features
Many cloud and off-site storages allow for an automatic backup of data. These features are there for a reason. Many users accidentally delete data while working on it, forgetting to back up data regularly or backing up incorrectly. Automatic backups help take away the inconsistency associated with manual backups by automatically backing up the data either on schedule or continuously, thereby ensuring that there are no gaps in the backup process.
Final takeaway
Over the years, digital assets have increased in quantity and value thereby becoming critical to daily activities. Therefore, protecting digital assets will be of prime importance. Performing data backups do not have to be a chore, leveraging on automation, 3-2-1 backup strategy and versioning will ensure that it is possible to recover from most disasters.
For data protection and cloud backup solutions, please contact us at : info@axon.com.sg
https://www.axon.com.sg/cloud-solutions.htm
