If there is one thing that you could take away from our blog it is that data backup is an integral part of any business continuity strategy. Unfortunately, there are so many different parts to it that it’s not surprising some data could slip through the cracks if not maintained properly. If you’re not actively taking measures to keep disasters from derailing your business’ progress, you stand to lose more than some data. Let’s take a look at some of the critical parts of a data backup and disaster recovery process and why it is essential to give them a test regularly. 

What Are the Key Parts of Data Backup?

The ideal data backup solution consists of three major parts, all of which have important roles to play in its eventual success. These three variables are:

• Incremental backups: Backups that are taken periodically throughout the workday are your best bet to minimize data lost to disasters. The more data you can protect, the better, after all. These backups should be taken as often as every fifteen minutes to guarantee minimal data loss.
• Quick data recovery: Your ideal backup solution needs to have rapid data recovery that can be implemented within a moment’s notice. This is to minimize downtime, which can be devastating to a business’ bottom line if it is left unresolved for any amount of time.
• Testing to ensure proper backups: Your organization should periodically test backups to make sure they are working effectively. 

Why Testing is Important

Testing any system for problems is a good practice, but this goes double for data backup. Your business relies on its IT and its data, and there are dozens upon dozens of potential situations that could lead to data loss. Something as simple as a power surge can fry the components of a system, creating a scramble to get the data off of the device. Sure, there are steps you can take to protect all of your IT infrastructure against threats, but the BDR (backup and disaster recovery) service gives you a chance to protect your assets with one solution. 

If you don’t test your backup system, you could think that you are protected when you aren’t. When a circumstance comes where you need to recover data--and it will come--if you don’t have a properly functioning backup system in place, you are going to lose assets. It’s that simple. Testing your backup ensures that your backup platform is working as intended. Not only does it give you the peace of mind that you are protected should something happen, it actually works to find functionality problems that can literally save your business.

At Argentum IT, our technicians want all of our clients to have a backup platform that makes data backup and recovery simple. If you want to protect your company’s assets to ensure that, should something happen with your data, your organization has the resources in place to be back in action fast, call us today at (502) 473-6407.