04 January 2011
Backing up is the process of making copies of original data as a contingency plan in case of data loss. “Backup” is a noun referring to a copy of the original while to “back up” is a verb for the act of making copies. Doing backup has become a necessity as there is always the possibility of losing data. It is said that 67% of internet users experience serious data loss.
The urgency of doing backup increases with the degree of importance, the sensitive nature and volume of the data. Important data include financial accounts, especially memorable photos, medical records, confidential information and military communications.
Businesses are the ones in serious need of good data backup because of the sensitive nature and large volume of data they handle daily. There are two primary uses of data backup. One is disaster recovery which is restoring to a state following a disaster. The other is to restore a fraction of the whole data after a small part of the data has been accidentally deleted or corrupted.
The most important objective of data backup is to restore to a state just prior to the data loss event
There are three objectives of data backup and any business ought to consider these in mind when mapping out their data backup strategy.
1. Recovery Point Objective
The most important objective of data backup is to restore to a state just prior to the data loss event. The more recent the recovery point, the better it is as this is the point in time where data most closely resembles the one which was lost. This is called the Recovery Point Objective or RPO.
2. Recovery Time Objective
The second objective of data recovery is to shorten the amount of time elapsed between failure and recovery. This is called the Recovery Time Objective or RTO. The shorter the RTO, the sooner lost data will be recovered and the more quickly normal business functions can resume.
3. Data Security
The goal of data backup is not only to gain access to the lost data but also to prevent access to it by unauthorised persons. This data backup objective is called Data Security. This is achieved with the means of encryption and proper handling of media policies. Security of the data is even more important than data recovery itself.
An effective backup strategy is a prerequisite for any successful disaster recovery plan. The most convenient backup system would include making duplicate copies of all programs and files that were accessible at the very moment when data loss events were first noticed.
Businesses everywhere would spare themselves from the grave inconvenience of data loss by employing good data backup practices. Business functions need not be slowed down, stopped or compromised because of irrecoverable data loss brought about by the failure to back up data.
If the worst should happen, speak to a professional data recovery company like Kingdom Data Recovery as soon as possible - all initial consultations are free of charge.
