Echopath Blog
Backing Up: Small Business vs. Large Business
We don’t have to tell you that there are plenty of differences between large and small businesses, but we can tell you that your backup plan for each should be different. If you’re from a large business and moving to a small one (or vice versa), what you used previously as your backup plan just won’t be feasible in your new job. Here are a few ways backing up data for both large and small businesses differ.
Small Businesses
Even if it’s only a few employees all working on their personal computers, data for small businesses has to be backed up. It’s all data that you require, and in the event of an emergency—even a computer theft—you need to have your data. If you’re coming from a large business, you probably won’t need a solution as complex as you previously did, but backing up your data is still important. Here are a few plans for keeping it safe.
- Use the Cloud. Cloud storage can keep information safe in the event of even the worst disasters. Many small businesses may opt to use external hard drives, but those are just as likely to fail or be stolen.
- Depending on your size, at a minimum keeping files and data stored in locations like Sharefile by Citrix or Google Drive can help keep them safe while allowing multiple people to work on a document at once. Look at setting up local sync feature of these services to a workstation and then backup the data from there.
- Backup daily, if not more frequently. Doing anything less can mean a serious loss of data in the event of an emergency.
- Consider a backup solution. You may not need an enterprise class solution, but a service that can automatically backup your files can be a great insurance policy. You are typically very busy and backup isn’t always top of mind.
- Remember the “Rule of Three” – You have the original file, #1. Then you should make a local copy of the original, ideally stored on physically separated media which is #2. You should always make a third copy, #3, that is stored geographically distant from #1 and #2, ideally with a cloud backup provider.
Large Businesses
Keeping data in Dropbox isn’t a good trade-off for backing it up. If you’re coming from a small business environment, you’ll quickly learn that things happen fast in large businesses, and that data needs to be backed up fluidly, securely, and safely. Here are a few things to look for.
- The larger your business, the more likely it’ll be the target of data theft. Use a backup solution that encrypts your data as soon as possible, ideally at the source and make sure it remains encrypted at flight and at rest on the other side.
- Utilizing Continuous Data Protection (CDP) can greatly reduce data loss events stemming from when you have multiple people working on multiple documents. If something goes haywire, you’ll want the most recent document available as quickly as possible. Choose a resource that offers CDP.
- If you operate in a windows environment, then turn Volume Shadow Copy Service on for key data drives because isn’t always on by default.
- Not every service offers restoration or disaster recovery. Full service cloud backup providers can offer you great backup as well as disaster recovery planning. If you experience an emergency, you want to keep that information as safe as possible, and get your team back up and working again quickly.
- Emergencies aren’t always something big. Sometimes, someone may delete a file he or she isn’t supposed to, or a file may get damaged. Choose a solution that offers constant review to make sure your files are in good shape.
- For heavy compliance and redundancy concerns, select a cloud backup solution that can offer replication to multiple geographical solutions.