Backup strategies in the company: implementing a backup concept

If you want to implement a new backup strategy in your company, you first need to answer a few questions.

You need to clarify which data should be stored for how long and what amount of data loss over time would still be acceptable.

So you first take stock of your data and rank your holdings by relevance.

You also need to be clear about the worst-case financial and legal consequences that could arise and which storage media are best suited for data backup. The decision depends primarily on the security classification of the data being used and backed up.

When choosing the right storage technology, you should weigh how long the information needs to be preserved, how important visual readability is or whether the data should be reproduced in another way, how portable the storage medium is, and how much space it requires.

You also need to clarify how sensitive the medium is to external influences and what storage logic it follows. In other words, is it file-system-based or database-based, and how frequently can data sets be recorded at what storage capacity?

Of course, the price of the storage medium is also a deciding factor. The potential costs in the event of loss must be weighed against those that would be incurred for the backup concept itself and for storing the storage media. A suitable secure location must be selected and designated for this purpose.

A cost-benefit analysis is always recommended in advance.

Here you should follow this rule of thumb: data and information with high value should be backed up on particularly secure and therefore usually more expensive storage media, while less important data can be stored on averagely secured and therefore more cost-effective media. Beyond that, you should determine when and how often the data in question needs to be available and how long access to the information may be denied at most, depending on how frequently the data is used.

The data backup strategy regarding the type of backup must also be clearly regulated:

• Should the data backup be performed as a full backup, incremental, or differential?
• How often should the functionality of the backup media as well as the integrity and consistency of the data be checked in this context?
• One responsible person or several responsible employees must be carefully selected and designated to implement the agreed-upon processes. Their task also includes staying informed about applicable legal regulations, since the backup strategy must comply with them.

Risks of not having a backup strategy

Many risks can threaten company-related data. In the event of a system crash, sabotage, hacker attacks, virus or worm attacks, all data stored on the computer can be lost. Harmful environmental influences such as lightning strikes, fire, or flooding can also cause extensive information loss.

To protect yourself from being unable to operate as a result of such a loss, it is absolutely essential to make backups of the data worth protecting at regular intervals, and to store them separately from the original information and as well protected as possible from the influences mentioned above. A threat analysis can clarify in advance which data is particularly at risk and which types of damage are most likely to occur.

This way, data security can be increased ahead of time, for example with the help of encryption programs or firewall installations.

Storage management and establishing a suitable backup strategy for your own company have become decisive criteria for a company's success.

A business that has to shut down or limit its operations due to extensive data loss, even if only temporarily, may lose not only the trust of its customers, suppliers, and employees but also its competitive position, not to mention the financial losses such a loss entails.

Documenting the backup strategy in a backup concept

Once you have answered all these questions with regard to the conditions in your company, weighed alternatives against each other and costs against benefits, the next step is to record the formulated strategy in a backup concept.

Depending on the maximum downtime you agree on, the financial resources you can spend, and how many data changes should be made at what intervals, you decide on either the full backup, the differential backup, or the incremental backup method.

While a full backup always secures the entire system — that is, all data, current software versions, and the operating system in its current state — the differential and incremental methods only capture changes in the meantime.

If you back up using a differential backup, the change is stored in relation to the last complete backup, with all save states made since the last full backup being included. If you use an incremental backup, each save state is stored separately until the next complete backup.

Langmeier Backup: a solution for your business too?

Are you looking for suitable backup solutions for your business? Langmeier Software offers various backup solutions tailored to your needs. Back up your data quickly and easily to a secure external hard drive and use the software Langmeier offers for RAID data backup, creating an IT backup copy, or a Microsoft backup.

To ensure long-term success, Langmeier always finds a suitable backup solution for small businesses, mid-sized companies, or even large corporations.