3 Key Factors to Include in Your Data Backup and Recovery Plan

Christina Wood, director of product marketing, at OpenText, delves into crucial elements for a resilient data backup and recovery plan in today’s unpredictable landscape.

In an increasingly unpredictable world, data security and business continuity challenges continue to evolve. A recent studyOpens a new window reveals a staggering 2,200 cyber-attacks per day, with a cyber-attack occurring roughly every 39 seconds. A reliable and modern backup and recovery strategy is critical, considering persistent cyber threats, geopolitical tensions, extreme weather events, and supply chain disruptions. 

Amid the rising tide of threats, many innovative backup and recovery solutions are available. However, not all of them follow the essential principles of authentic backup and recovery methodologies. To construct a robust data backup and recovery strategy, let’s explore three key factors: plan with the restore in mind, know the requirements of true backup, and follow recovery best practices.

1. Plan with Restore in Mind

Building a robust data backup and recovery strategy is crucial for safeguarding valuable data and business continuity, especially in uncertain times. Here’s how to plan with restoration in mind:

• Understand what’s required for regulatory compliance
• Classify your data into a limited set of categories
• Consider the requirements of stakeholders and insurance companies
• Acknowledge that all critical data, whether in the cloud, off the cloud, or in a hybrid environment, is in scope
• Keep it simple to ensure recovery works even in panic mode
• Be aware of potential costs (e.g., legislation, ransomware, business disruptions) if the restoration process fails
• Prepare for change, minimize hardware and software dependencies, and avoid multi-step approaches
• Regularly test your recovery procedures

In essence, define restore service-level agreements (SLAs) based on specific requirements and infrastructure setups, including the critical recovery metrics of Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and 

Recovery Time Objective (RTO). RPO represents the maximum acceptable interval during which transactional data can be lost from an IT service. It depends on the frequency of backup operations.

RTO is the duration a business process must be restored to maintain continuity and avoid costly consequences.

Clearly defining RPO and RTO requirements highlights prerequisites for effective backup and ensures restoration performance aligns with business needs.

2. Know the Requirements of True Backup

To ensure true backup, adhere to the 3-2-1 rule:

• Keep three copies of your data
• Store these copies on two different types of storage media
• Maintain at least one copy offsite to guard against physical disasters or theft

While the 3-2-1 rule is common, consider volume, performance, and budget constraints. Modern backup architectures often use disk-based targets but require redundancy to prevent data loss in case of target device failure. Be cautious of tools that create data copies on mounted disk volumes without proper format changes. These methods lack reliability and can’t protect against misuse or theft.

Avoid relying solely on your system’s backup capabilities, which may introduce dependencies and lack protection in various disaster scenarios. For efficient and secure backups, consider a direct transfer from the original data source to the backup target, eliminating the need for intermediate proxy or gateway servers.

See More: Object Storage: Affordable Data Security Amid “Cloud-flation” Budget Constraints

3. Follow Recovery Best Practices

In a disaster scenario, rapid and effective data recovery is crucial. Here are the steps to take:

• Plan by ensuring your virtualization layer, authentication tools, and encryption keys are in order. Maintain recent backup catalog information for quick access.
• Test regularly to validate restore and recovery processes. Thorough documentation will guide your team during high-pressure situations.
• Simplify operations by streamlining recovery with a central console offering multiple restore options, including snapshots, recent backups, replicas, and older sets. Ensure it includes records of vaulted and offsite-stored backups.
• Choose the right software by investing in enterprise-level backup and recovery software with extensive integrations and capabilities. It should enable quick restores using automated transaction log backup and truncation, making application-specific expertise unnecessary.

In conclusion, a self-assessment is in order:

• Are your backups securely stored or at risk on mounted volumes?
• Is your backup stored in a protected format to prevent unauthorized access or manipulation?
• Does your backup and recovery solution consume excessive disk and compute power beyond current requirements?
• Do you have well-defined restore plans that are regularly tested and updated?
• Is your restore process ready for panic-mode scenarios?

By addressing these key factors and embracing modern backup and recovery strategies, you can safeguard your data and ensure business continuity in an increasingly unpredictable world.

How secure are your backups? How to enhance your data protection strategy. Why? Let us know on FacebookOpens a new window , XOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window . We’d love to hear from you!

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