World Backup Day: Reminder to Have a Backup Plan
Today, March 31st, is World Backup Day. A day to remind those who need reminding that data is valuable and can be compromised at any time. Life is an unpredictable. To minimize the impact of unpredictable events, you should have a backup plan.
For companies and individuals alike, a good rule of thumb for backing up data that is important to you is the 3-2-1 Rule. Three copies of your data on two different types of media with one offsite. If your data isn’t backed up on different media and stored in different places, a disaster can occur at any point and wipe out all your data. A disaster could be extreme weather like a hurricane or tornado, or something that is occurring on a very regular basis: the loss of theft of a device. If you had all your data on that device that is no longer accessible, what data would you miss?
Data should be backed up and stored properly because you never know when you are going to need it. I don’t look through all of my photos, videos, and files every day of the week. But one day, the time comes when someone asks for a picture from that trip ten years ago and I have to know where it is or else I’ll spend days looking for it. For companies, this is the same situation but with very large amounts of data to backup and store, and they can’t afford to spend days looking for data when asked to retrieve it.
It is important for companies to have efficient and cost effective methods for storing all the data. They backup data that needs to be readily accessible; and, they backup data that is going to sit for 7-10 years “just in case” someone needs it or asks for it. For those that store data on tapes and send tapes offsite, the hardest part is managing how those tapes should move and what data is on them. B&L Associates provides backup tape management solutions to help companies manage the movement, location, and retention of all their backup tapes. As a result, when asked to locate data, they can do so quickly and easily.
Today, and every day, people and companies should think about the data that is important to them and ask themselves if they are willing to lose it and if they are doing enough to protect it. Disasters don’t happen every day, but no one knows which day a disaster will occur. To avoid losing all your data or spending time and money looking for data, backup and store data properly every day so you are prepared. Happy World Backup Day!