What would happen to your organization if it suddenly lost access to all of its data? Productivity would grind to a halt, resulting in upset customers and thousands (or more) in lost revenue. With so much riding on your data, it’s vital to explore backup solutions that preserve business and operational continuity, enabling you to bounce back from a data incident.
The question is, which data backup solutions are the best fit for your business? There aren’t any one-size-fits-all options. You need to consider everything from the pricing of backup providers to what type of disaster recovery the framework offers. To help with that, this blog explores the best business data backup solutions.
What Are Your Backup Storage Options?
The biggest decision to make when exploring backup solutions concerns where you’ll store your data. Here are the secure backup options at your disposal:
Cloud
You’ll work with a service provider to access backup as a service (BaaS), which follows the SaaS delivery model. It offers online backup options in the cloud, allowing you to store as much as your business needs. In the event of a ransomware attack, your cloud backup solution will ensure business continuity through rapid, independent access, enabling you to recover any compromised data.
A downside of this option is that the cost can be quite high if your chosen provider has a pricing model based on storage. This is especially detrimental if you store a lot of old, historic data. Fortunately, a good cloud backup services provider may be able to be able to help you automate archiving processes to keep costs in check.
Software
Software-based backup solutions create exact copies of computers, databases, or individual files. Backup software offers a great deal of flexibility. However, there can be a learning curve with this type of backup tool.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t use a software-based backup system. It’s all about evaluating your company’s unique needs. If you intend to use recovery software as opposed to one of the other options, it’s important to ensure compatibility with your existing tech tools.
Redundancy
Under the redundancy model, you create multiple copies or “replicas” of the data you want to protect. You can back up an entire device, set of files, or drive. The key is to store these replicates off-site. If you store the data on-premises, your replicas could be damaged by any malware that impacts your primary system. Data accessibility is vital for business continuity. Ensuring access to data via a third-party provider is a disaster recovery best practice.
When using this backup plan, you can store your replicas on external hard drives or on the cloud. If you run a small business with a relatively small amount of data to back up, you should use a cloud-based storage provider. These offerings are very cost-effective, but the providers don’t offer the same level of support as a dedicated BaaS partner.
Hardware
One of the simplest, yet riskiest storage approaches involves purchasing a backup hardware device. For instance, if your business runs on Windows, you could buy a Windows computer with high storage capacity and arrange pre-set backups, which will stream data to the device at specified intervals.
Remember that simply having a backup device is not enough. You need to ensure the backup device is separated from the core network to protect it from external threats. The best approach is to store the device offsite.
What Are the Types of Backups Available?
Regardless of what storage location you choose, it’s important to back up your data at regular intervals. While your first instinct may be to copy all of your data every single time you perform a backup, this approach will quickly consume all your storage capacity and drive up costs.
For some businesses, backing up everything makes sense despite the costs. However, your business may be able to achieve adequate data protection without taking on this huge expense. With that in mind, here are three of the most common backups to consider:
Full Backup
Under this model, you’ll make a copy of everything, from the apps on your computers to historical transaction data. Most businesses only perform a full backup at regular intervals and a few times per year. That’s because the process takes a long time and can be expensive. Conversely, this approach offers a streamlined recovery process in the event of a breach.
Differential Backup
As the name suggests, a differential approach only backs up data that is “different” from what it was during the last full backup. For example, if you perform a full backup every Monday, you would need to complete a differential backup Tuesday through Sunday. Each day’s backup will contain what is different from Monday’s backup. On the following Monday, you’ll perform another full backup.
This ensures that no valuable data gets lost if you suffer a breach in between full backups. On the positive side, this model allows you to recover quickly while also minimizing how long it takes to copy data. However, you’ll consume significant storage space.
Incremental/Delta Backup
The incremental backup model can save space and keep your data storage costs to a minimum. Here’s how it works.
First, you create a complete backup. Next, you will determine your backup increments, which can be daily or weekly. While you can choose longer intervals, doing so is not recommended as more of your data is at risk.
During each interval, you’ll copy any data that has changed since the previous backup. On the second incremental backup, you’ll copy only the data that has changed since the last backup. Repeat this process indefinitely.
Incremental backups take far less time to complete and consume much less storage space. However, if you ever need to perform data recovery, doing so will take quite a while because you’ll need to combine data from every backup to have a complete picture.
Considerations for Choosing a Backup Solution
When selecting a backup solution for your organization, you must account for several factors. First, assess your storage requirements, including the volume of data, frequency of backups, and retention policies. Next, consider the scalability of the solution to accommodate future growth and changing needs.
Security should also be a top priority. Evaluate the solution’s encryption capabilities and compliance standards to ensure it aligns with your industry-specific requirements. Additionally, verify that the platform integrates with your existing IT infrastructure.
Finally, consider the platform’s cost-effectiveness, including your upfront expenses, ongoing maintenance fees, and potential savings from reduced downtime. When aligning business needs to solution capabilities, be mindful of the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO). Here’s a look at these important concepts.
What Are RPO & RTO?
RPO and RTO are critical metrics in your disaster recovery planning process.
The Recovery Point Objective, or RPO, defines the amount of data your organization is willing to lose. An RPO of 24 hours means you take backups once per day. Any data after the backup runs is at risk until the next day’s backup executes. In the worst case, you have an incident right before the next backup runs and lose 24 hours’ worth of data.
Once an incident occurs, the Recovery Time Objective, or RTO, defines the maximum amount of time it takes to recover. An RTO of 12 hours means your systems will be unavailable for at most 12 hours after the start of an incident. This time is used to recover the systems to the last recovery point.
The concept of RPO traces its origin to the early days of IT systems, where on-premise mainframes were common. The concept shows its age when applied to modern SaaS solutions. With a recovery point focus, the entire system was restored to that previous backup. While this fixed the corruption, all the valuable, uncorrupted data created since the recovery point was lost. In the modern world, going beyond RPO to precisely recover only the corrupted data while preserving unaffected business data should be the expectation.
Why Do RPO & RTO Matter When Choosing a Backup Solution?
These metrics matter because they directly impact your ability to bounce back after a breach. Setting clear RTO and RPO expectations aligns with acceptable data loss and downtime with your business requirements. Clear metrics also ensure that the provider you choose meets your expectations. The best partners, such as Own, help you implement strategies to decrease RTO and RPO.
Is Own the Right Backup and Recovery Solution for You?
Own offers a comprehensive backup and recovery solution for SaaS data. Our customizable tools are designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. You can automate backup processes, protect mission-critical data, and set the stage for a rapid recovery following data loss or corruption.
Benefits of Own Recover
Our backup and recovery solution offers several advantages, including the following:
- Independent of your SaaS provider, so you’ll always have access to your data
- Scalable cloud-based storage with unlimited data storage
- Secure encryption to safeguard sensitive information.
- Functionality and strategies to align with RPO & RTO goals and precise restore capabilities
- Team behind the technology to get you back to running your business quickly
Choosing our solution ensures you have access to the tools, strategies, and expertise necessary to protect your bottom line. We can help you navigate the process of selecting a backup solution and provide you with the resources necessary to weather whatever digital threats come your way.
Schedule a demo for a walkthrough of our leading SaaS backup and recovery solution.
Want More Information About Data Backup Solutions?
Are you ready to learn more about Own and how we can protect your business? Check out these great resources:
- Guidance on choosing a Salesforce backup solution?
- Discover the most common causes of Salesforce data loss and options businesses have to recover lost or corrupted data
- Work in a regulated industry? Get information on data backup for your unique situation
- Visit our data backup library for all our resources on Data Backup strategies, tips, and more
