Backup and Disaster Recovery

How we approach Backup and Disaster Recovery may include:

Contingency, Uninterrupted Power Supply, Data Backups

BDR – backup and disaster recovery solutions.

Disaster Recovery (DR) is a holist approach. The protection and the ability to maintain active or restore as needed computer systems includes the: internet connectivity, hardware, electrical power supply, server operating system, program installations, program and user configurations, as well as the files and folders.

A unified solution that should ensure a company is able to continue operating during a minor electrical power outage or should data get lost or hardware failure, allow for a full recovery. The speed to recover in the shortest period of time, to return to previous productivity.

Protecting and being able to successfully recover the entire computer system environment is imperative.

Contingency

Having a secondary internet link, such as 4G LTE or 5G NR mobile broadband connection. Choosing internet routers that allow for both a fail-over and fall-back connection to the internet. Should the primary internet link fail, the router will then switch over to the secondary internet mobile broadband connection. Intelligent routers, then check on the primary connection. As soon as the primary internet connection returns back online, the router should switch back to the primary link. For remote users and office users requiring cloud connectivity, such should prevent downtime.

Uninterrupted Power Supply

A (UPS) to protect your critical computer network telephone equipment. Provider power that may have fluctuations, surges, spikes, brownouts, voltage dips, or blackouts.

Data Backup

A backup of your files folders and emails are important. This makes multiple copies of selected data. It is not disaster recovery, just a part of it.

File level backup is no longer sufficient.

Best practice should include Server Level backup, preferably using Virtual Machine backups. Protection of guest server systems using the use of virtualisation technology should allow the migration or recovery of such systems to other hardware or cloud systems.

Encryption Key Backup

What should not be forgotten is the backup of any encryption key being used.

Natural Disasters and Cyber Ransomware

In the past restoration was due to user error, fire or flood, natural disasters. Lately cyber-attacks including criminal ransomware are another threat. Typically your data and program files are maliciously re-encrypted by the attacker. The better way to restore is via your Disaster Recovery plan using a good backup solution. Your data has to be kept as secure as possible and systems to remain validated.

Monitoring and Testing of Backup and Disaster Recovery Solution

To increase the possibility to restore your business from a data or systems failure, to get systems back online and operational, it is imperative to back up your data and settings.

An appropriate backup and disaster recovery methodology includes actually testing.

Whilst it may appear to be a “set and forget”, it has to be monitored and periodically tested in order to validate the backup. Testing your backups is the only way to confirm that the solution works.

Backup to a non-proprietary format

One should have as a minimum, the backup data, when saved to external source, using a non-proprietary format. This should allow the best chance to read said backup, should the backup program be no longer available in the future. This especially the case to allow for a better archival of systems and their accurate and accessible restoration retrieval in their “exact state” in that “point in time”.

3-2-1 Backup Rule

In the past best practice should have included as a minimum the 3-2-1 backup strategy.
Due to ransonware attacks, this has been revised.

3-2-1-1-0 Backup Rule

Updated and replaced with the best practice of the 3-2-1-1-0 backup strategy.
Due to ransonware attacks, an off-line air gapped copy is imperative.

There should be three 3 separate copies of your data;
Stored on two 2 different physical media and not on the same device;
With one 1 backup copy kept in an off-site location, which could include cloud backup;
Plus:
With one 1 backup copy kept in an off-line air gapped disconnected ejected non-cloud storage;
Verifying that each backup copy is with zero 0 errors, with active monitoring and periodic testing.

This is the bare minumum.

The cost to purchase and maintain backups including its related media and cloud storage space, is not as expensive as loosing your data.

Best to have at least a backup copy for each working day of the week (Monday to Friday), with fortnightly, end of month, end of quarter, end of financial business year copies, that are kept securely off-site.

End of financial business year there should be more than one copy,
in two separate locations with a fair (at least a kilometre) physical distance apart.

That is one should be kept on-site on-premise and the other set off-site.

Air gapped in an off-site non-cloud secure location is ideal. The physically disconnected media when stored, is an added protection against ransomware.

What is the point of Backup and Disaster Recovery.

In plain speak, there is little to no point working entering information into your computer systems, unless your efforts are backed up and kept safe. If backups and disaster recovery systems are not done properly and not periodically reviewed, then why input information into a computer system?

Backup and Disaster Recovery Software

There may be software licensing requirements.

Please contact us to discuss how we may be of assistance with your specific requirements and business goals.

Sky Skill Computer Support and Unified Communications is our core business.

Skilfully supporting cloud, hybrid mix and on-premise unified communications and computer solutions