Introduction
Having a rock-solid backup system is one of the most important aspects of any business. Unfortunately, many companies put off improving their backup plans until disaster strikes. Don’t wait for a crisis to update your backup system. Watch for these 5 warning signs that indicate it’s time for an upgrade.
1. Your backups are taking too long
If your daily/weekly full backups are starting to exceed the window you have allotted, that’s a clue your current system can’t keep up. Lengthy backup times often lead to shortcuts and missed backups, which defeats the purpose.
Modern backup software and hardware can tremendously accelerate backup speeds. Look for data deduplication and compression to shrink backup sizes. Also consider snapshot-based backups for near-instantaneous daily backups.
2. Tapes are involved
Using physical tapes for backups is risky. Tapes degrade over time, get lost, and are cumbersome to test and restore from. If your backups rely on swapping tape cartridges, consider replicating backups to cloud storage or a purpose-built backup appliance instead.
Cloud backups provide automation, unlimited scalability, and built-in redundancy. Backup appliances simplify on-premises backups with disk targets and modern features like data deduplication. Both options eliminate the need for tapes.
3. You’ve outgrown your backup software
Many backup software products cater to small businesses. If your data volumes have increased significantly, your old software may no longer fit.
Warning signs include:
- Backup jobs failing consistently
- Support for new data types is lacking
- Adding storage capacity is difficult
- Reporting/monitoring capabilities are inadequate
PURPOSE-BUILT solutions for enterprise backup offer:
- Scalability to handle growth
- Support for diverse data types – VMs, databases, cloud apps
- Seamless expansion of backup targets
- Comprehensive monitoring and alerting
4. Recovery testing is lagging
To have confidence in your backups, you need to test restores regularly. If it’s been more than 3 months since your last recovery test, that’s too long.
- Test restores of files, application data, and system images
- Verify backups of databases, email, etc.
- Check that tape backups can be restored (if applicable)
Automated backup testing saves time. Look for backup software with built-in testing features to regularly validate your backups.
5. Offsite backups are incomplete
If a disaster strikes your office, like a flood or fire, onsite backups may be unrecoverable. Storing backups offsite is essential for business continuity.
Cloud backups offer an easy way to maintain offsite copies of data. Or, replicate backups to a disaster recovery site.
Make sure offsite backups include:
- Full system images for disaster recovery
- Historical snapshots for files and databases
- Copies of critical application data
Having robust, regular offsite backups ensures you can restart operations if the worst happens.
Conclusion
Don’t wait for a bad situation to assess your backup system. Keep an eye out for these warning signs that your current backup process may need updating. Investing in modern backup solutions gives invaluable peace of mind that your business data is protected.
