The Connection, Inc Blog

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that a lot can go wrong with business just about every day. If something were to go horribly wrong and you lost access to your data infrastructure, what would you do? Let’s take a look at some of these disaster scenarios and how much data backup and disaster recovery can make a difference for your organization.

Modern businesses rely on a lot of technology to stay operational, much of which can be considered hardware, or the physical computing systems that contribute to your infrastructure, like workstations, routers, switches, and servers. Unfortunately, no technology lasts forever, and this is true for hardware as well. One of the most devastating problems that a business can face is hardware failure, and no matter how well you maintain your technology, you must be ready to face down this threat at any given moment.

Data backup is something that some organizations think they can do without, simply because they believe that it’s only valuable to have in the event that something wrong happens. Well, we’re here to break the bad news that if something can go wrong, it most likely will go wrong… at least at some point. With automated cloud backups, however, the chances of some unexpected emergency ending your business are drastically reduced.

Data is the backbone of any modern business. Since your organization relies so much on it, you need to have measures put into place to ensure that your business can access it in some way, shape or form at all times. This is easier said than done, especially for a business on a budget. We’ll walk you through how you can implement a comprehensive data backup solution to protect your organization.

There are a lot of different ways that companies and organizations approach data backup, ranging from backing up everything to backing up literally nothing (which we do not recommend). In many ways, backup is simply a form of insurance—the difference being that you’re investing in a solution to a problem, rather than a means to cover your business’ damages.

No business owner likes to think about it, but every business needs to be prepared for the possibility of their data disappearing. Have you taken steps to ensure that, should some disaster strike, you will be prepared to dust yourself off and continue operations? Furthermore, are you sure that your preparations will be sufficient and your data will be preserved?

The terms “disaster” and “data disaster” are too often used interchangeably. While definitely connected, they certainly are not the same thing. A “disaster” is a weather event or some other external force that puts your business in peril, often by leading to a “data disaster,” which is when your organization suffers data loss of some magnitude.

However, a business doesn’t necessarily need to undergo a full-blown disaster to experience a data disaster. A data disaster can be caused by events that, at first glance, seem much more manageable than physically destructive. Data disasters can be brought upon a company if a crucial piece of hardware fails, as well as hacking attacks or the unnervingly common user error.

Make no mistake, there is nothing inherently manageable about these circumstances. They can cause significant destruction to your business. It's your responsibility to be certain that your business continuity plan has a backup solution is prepared for whatever type of disaster may be headed your way. However, what many would consider a “backup solution” is simply insufficient.

In order for a backup solution to be safely reliable, it has to meet a few criteria:

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1. It has to be regularly updated multiple times a day. After all, what good would a backup taken three months ago do for your business?
2. It must be stored off-site, preferably in numerous locations. This is to avoid whatever data-loss disaster that destroys your in-house data, also destroying your backup data.
3. It must be tested to ensure it does its job. A backup solution that doesn’t work is the same as not having a backup solution at all.

Remember, these are the basics of data backup, which should only be a part of a comprehensive business continuity plan. Preserving your data is a good start, but in the case of some catastrophe, you’ll need a plan to get your business up and running again.

For assistance in creating a data backup and disaster recovery strategy, reach out to The Connection at (732) 291-5938.

With data looked on as more of an asset than ever organizations are finding that their data backup and recovery system needs to be comprehensive. By knowing more about backup and recovery, you stand to be able to plan the solution to meet your company’s needs. Today, we will look at the different types of data backup and introduce you to four terms you need to understand.

The Types of Backup
There are various types of backup that anyone looking to come up with a backup strategy should know. They include:

• Full backup - A method of backup where all selected files are backed up in their entirety. Typically, the first backup taken for any backup solution. Since it is a comprehensive backup of all selected files, it will take more time than other types of backup. If a full backup is the method of backup your organization chooses, backups will typically be done after business hours as long wait times will likely cause downtime.
• Differential backup - A method of backup that just backs up the changes made to data. While this allows for significantly faster backups, it makes for slower restores.
• Incremental backup - A method of backup that is much like the differential backup. The main difference is that the incremental backup backs up data regardless if the previous backup was a full backup or an incremental backup.
• Mirror backup - A method of backup that is a real-time duplicate of the source being backed up. In essence, total redundancy. One problem with a mirror backup is that if material is deleted by mistake, it will be deleted on the mirror backup as well. For this reason, many professional IT technicians do not consider the mirror backup to be a viable backup solution at all.

Now that you understand the types of backup, here are some other backup-related terms that you should know:

• Business continuity - As the name suggests, it is a plan that is put together by a business that will allow them to continue effective operations if hit with any number of unfortunate situations. Normally focusing on a business’ critical business functions, business continuity should be a strategy that every business prioritizes.
• Disaster recovery - As with any other security process, disaster recovery is a dedicated plan to protect your business in case of some significant data-based disaster. Anything from cyberattacks, to sabotage, to mistakes can cause major problems for your business.
• Recovery Point Objective (RPO) - As a part of a dedicated disaster recovery system, RPO is a benchmark indicating which data must be recovered for your business to resume normal business operations.
• Recovery Time Objective (RTO) - Also as a part of a disaster recovery system, RTO is the time your business needs to have its data back before the business becomes untenable. The lower the number, the faster you will need a full restore.

At The Connection, we offer a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery that can keep you in the game even after the most devastating data loss incident. For more information about disaster recovery, business continuity, and data backup call our professional technicians at (732) 291-5938.

Backup and disaster recovery (BDR) might seem like a singular process, but in reality it’s more of a combination of processes that work in tandem with each other. Backup and disaster recovery both require a different perspective and approach in order to make sure they play nicely with each other. We’ll attempt to address this difference and give you the information needed to make the best decisions possible for your solution.

For the modern business, not having a backup system in place is inexcusable. If you use digital data to run your business, you need to protect the data you can’t replace by having it backed up regularly. Some businesses have been around long enough to have files that don’t have any practical application in the course of business. You don’t need this data, and you don’t need a copy of it. Today, we will discuss how to select and choose which pieces of data you should seek to protect. 

Modern businesses generate a lot of data, some of which they couldn’t really function without. This makes the prospect of data loss especially dangerous, making a data backup imperative. Today, cloud computing is seen as the premiere option in terms of data redundancy and availability. Today, we’ll look at why you want to consider storing your backed-up data in the cloud.

Data backup. Nobody wants to think about it until it’s too late to do anything about it. While no business ever hopes that they will be struck by a data loss incident, no business will ever regret implementing a backup on the off-chance that they ever suffer from a worst-case scenario. What are some of the most important parts of a data backup and business continuity system? We’ll start with Recovery Point Objective and Recovery Time Objective.

While they might sound similar, RPO and RTO are two very different things that work toward the same ultimate goal of sustaining your business’ continuity in the event of some catastrophe.

Recovery Point Objective
When you picture your business suffering from a data loss incident, just how much data do you see yourself losing? Whether it’s a considerable amount of data or just a couple of files, we want you under the impression that no amount of data loss is acceptable for your business--particularly because you can never know if that information will be restored again or not in the future. Your ultimate goal should be to minimize data loss by any means necessary, which leads us into the recovery point objective.

Basically, the Recovery Point Objective is a designated amount of data that your organization aims to restore in the event of a disaster. It’s ideally 100%, and most modern backup solutions will help you reach this threshold. Incremental backups like those taken with a comprehensive Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution can help you toward this end.

Recovery Time Objective
The other half of BDR consists of the recovery time objective. How long does it take your business to recover in the event of a disaster? The idea is to minimize this time, as downtime can be both expensive and risky for your organization. Any time when your business isn’t functioning as intended due to data loss or otherwise constitutes downtime, and situations like these are costly--meaning that you should minimize them as often as possible.

Business continuity needs a minimal recovery time objective so that you can get right back in action following a data loss incident. The best way to accomplish this is through a Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution from The Connection. You can minimize data loss and restore your data backups directly to a temporary device so that your business doesn’t have to wait any longer than needed to get back in action. To learn more, reach out to us at (732) 291-5938.

Data backup is one of the most critical parts of protecting your business, but there are a lot of moving parts that need to be considered before implementing a solution. For example, did you know that data backup and disaster recovery are two different things completely? While they may both be involved in the business continuity process, the two represent equally important, yet disparate, parts.

Do you know what the major difference in them is? Data backup focuses on creating data backups in the event that you are to suffer from a loss incident. Disaster recovery is the act of actually restoring the data backup as well as any other operational function that may have been interrupted by a incident. In many senses, data backup is the event that begins the process while disaster recovery ends it, ensuring that your organization recovers swiftly and efficiently.

There are several features that contribute to a successful data backup and disaster recovery solution. Here are just a few of them:

Recovery point objective: How much data needs to be backed up (and ultimately restored) in the event of a loss incident in order to continue or sustain operations? For a higher RPO, you will want to restore as much data as possible.

Recovery time objective: How long will it take to have your backed up data restored in order continue or sustain operations? Time is a luxury that you don’t have when your organization’s future hangs in the balance. The faster you can recover your data, the less downtime you’ll suffer from.

Depending on the type of solution you have in place, your RPO and your RTO will vary. A quicker RTO will likely result in a lower RPO, as the more data you need to have restored will cause longer recovery delays. You will have to alter your recovery plans based on your particular configuration. It is also worth mentioning that not all backup solutions are as effective as others.

Tape backup, the staple solution for many years, needs to be manually run in order for you to get back in business following a disaster scenario. Furthermore, due to the cumbersome nature of tape backup, it’s possible to lose at least a day’s worth of data. The alternative, network-attached data backup and disaster recovery (BDR) with cloud functionality offers faster recovery times and more thorough recovery options. All you have to do is restore the data to any device via an Internet connection. Since modern data backup solutions can take snapshots frequently, it’s a great way to minimize data loss and ensure protection from the increased downtime that many data loss situations would produce.

Does your business need help implementing a new data backup and disaster recovery solution? The Connection can help. To learn more, reach out to us at (732) 291-5938.

A small business is just as susceptible to the many problems that face large enterprises, and the dangers only multiply with the more technology you implement in the office. The larger your network gets, the more difficult data distribution and storage becomes. The more employees you work with, the more devices that will appear in the office. The more data you work with, the more likely you are to get hacked. These are all very real risks. What are you doing to protect your company from these threats?

We’d like to present one surefire way to dodge the majority of problems associated with business technology management: outsourced IT services from The Connection. We can use our proactive approach to take care of your technology so that you can focus on running your business. While we offer many different types of services, here is a brief rundown of some of our popular ones.

Data Backup and Disaster Recovery
Have you taken the time to think about what your business would do if it suddenly lost all of its data? If not, do so now. It could be much more than just a couple of months’ worth of leads put at risk. An untimely hardware failure could have lasting effects on the way that your business functions. You’ll need to replace the hardware, which could take several days, or even weeks. During this time, your business isn’t working as intended, which can severely damage your productivity. Instead of suffering from this unfortunate occurrence, you can implement a BDR to take multiple copies of your data and keep them safe for recovery at a later date. BDR is designed to eliminate downtime and take a proactive stance against data loss due to natural disasters, hacking attacks, user error, and more.

Remote Monitoring and Maintenance
Most problems with your technology can be resolved remotely, without the need for an expensive on-site visit. Managed IT services capitalize on this convenience by allowing you to get the help that you need, when you need it. This cuts out waiting for the technician to arrive on-site and keeps downtime caused by the issue to a minimum, allowing you to get the problem fixed right away and get right back to work. Furthermore, we can apply any necessary patches and security updates remotely so that you will always be protected from existing and developing threats.

Network Security
Hacking attacks and security threats will always be one of the most dangerous parts of running a business. Some of the scariest threats currently on the Internet include ransomware and botnets that enslave Internet of Things devices. Only a cybersecurity professional knows how to identify and prevent infections from known threats. We can equip your business with a comprehensive Unified Threat Management solution to limit infections on your network in the first place. The UTM includes an enterprise-level firewall, antivirus, spam blocker, and content filter.

Cloud Hosting
Why host your data on-site when you can outsource the responsibility to us? When you think about it, hosting your data on your own servers is a bit of a hassle. Unless you have on-site technicians to take care of it, you’ll be left at a disadvantage. Maintaining servers is certainly not a job for amateurs. The Connection can store your data in our cloud, which we can maintain ourselves. You can remotely access your data through the use of cloud services, allowing you and your team to be productive from anywhere at any time.

What are your thoughts on this type of technology management for your business model? If you’re ready to give it a shot, reach out to us at (732) 291-5938.