Introduction
Backing up data is one of the most important things you can do to protect your files and information. However, there are some common backup mistakes that can lead to data loss or inadequate protection. As we head into 2024, it’s a good time to review backup best practices to ensure your data is properly safeguarded.
In this article, I will share the top 10 backup mistakes to avoid in 2024 so you can reevaluate your current backup strategy. Proper planning and implementation of backups will give you peace of mind knowing your data is secure.
1. Not Having Any Backups
The biggest mistake is not having any backup solution in place. Without backups, a hard drive failure, ransomware attack, or other data disaster could cause complete and irrecoverable data loss.
Not backing up your data is like driving dangerously without car insurance – sooner or later you’ll regret it.
Some free and low-cost backup options to consider:
- External hard drives – Easy to setup for file/folder backups. Store offsite for protection against local disasters.
- Cloud backup – Services like Backblaze and IDrive offer affordable, automated cloud backup.
- Local network storage – NAS devices offer redundant storage and backup capabilities.
2. Failing To Test Restores
A common pitfall is assuming your backups are working without verifying restores. You should test restoring backups regularly to ensure the process completes successfully.
Potential restore issues to check for:
- Corrupted/incomplete files – Verify integrity and completeness of restored data.
- Login/permissions issues – Ensure your backup software has proper credentials to access/restore data.
- Hardware compatibility – Validate backups load correctly on separate/new hardware in case of equipment failure.
- Restore duration – Time required to restore terabytes of data or large databases.
Test restores on a regular schedule, not just when disaster strikes. Treat testing restores as a fire drill – the process will go much smoother when it’s not an actual emergency!
3. Lacking Offsite Backups
Having backups located only onsite leaves you vulnerable to site disasters like fires, floods, and theft that can damage both your live data and backups.
Maintaining an offsite copy of your backups is crucial protection against physical loss.
Offsite options:
- External HDDs – Rotate drives to alternate secure locations.
- Cloud storage – Backups available from anywhere with internet access.
- Remote servers – replicate data to servers in separate geographic sites.
Review your backup plan to ensure at least one offsite copy exists in case of disaster at your primary location.
4. Insufficient Backup Frequency
Determining optimal backup frequency depends on how much data change occurs and your tolerance for potential data loss. Backing up too infrequently risks losing recent updates.
Some best practices for backup frequency:
- Files – Back up daily or weekly depending on change rate.
- Databases – Back up transaction logs hourly to prevent heavy data loss.
- Images – Back up as data is added/changed.
- Systems – Daily or weekly full system backups.
Frequent backups do slow down systems slightly and require more storage, but reduce potential data loss. Review backup schedules and adjust based on business needs.
5. Saving Money By Not Buying Enough Storage
Trying to save money on backup storage can lead to situations where backups fail because space runs out. Allocate enough storage to maintain multiple recovery points over time.
Follow the 3-2-1 rule for backup storage:
- 3 total copies of data (live + 2 backups)
- Store backups on 2 different media types
- Keep 1 copy offsite
With storage relatively inexpensive, don’t let limiting backup capacity increase your risk!
6. No Encryption
Unencrypted backups can expose your data if drives/devices are lost or stolen. Encryption protects the confidentiality of your backups against physical theft.
Options to encrypt backup data:
- Software encryption – Encrypt within backup application before writing to storage.
- Operating system encryption – Use BitLocker (Windows), FileVault (MacOS), dm-crypt (Linux).
- Encrypted storage – Use encrypted HDDs, SSDs, tape cartridges.
- Encrypted containers – Store backup in encrypted folder or disk image.
Developing a data encryption plan ensures your backups remain private and secure.
7. Saving Money On Backup Software
While free backup software seems appealing, it often lacks key capabilities compared to commercial solutions like alerting, encryption, deduplication, delta backups, central management, etc.
Don’t let your backup strategy rely solely on low-end or free solutions – the limitations could lead to data loss scenarios you want to avoid. Allocate appropriate budget for robust, enterprise-grade backup capabilities.
Commercial backup platforms to consider:
- Veeam, Commvault, Veritas NetBackup, Cohesity, Rubrik
- Microsoft Azure Backup, AWS Backup
8. Not Monitoring Backup Status
Simply scheduling backups is insufficient – you need to proactively monitor job status and troubleshoot issues. Backup failures can go unnoticed for months without active monitoring and alerting.
Implementing backup reporting and alerting helps detect problems so they can be addressed before data loss occurs.
- Log centralization – aggregate logs from multiple backups for unified monitoring.
- Job success/failure email alerts – get notified if a scheduled backup fails.
- Status dashboards – centralized views of all backup jobs across environments.
- Capacity monitoring – generate alerts as backup storage fills up.
Make backup monitoring and alerting a priority to catch problems early.
9. Weak Recovery Testing
Testing backups by restoring sample files does not qualify as a complete recovery test. You need to periodically test restoring the entire backup to confirm recoverability.
Robust recovery testing involves:
- Full system restores – Rebuild systems/databases from scratch to validate all components.
- Recovery time measurement – How long does a full restore take? Does it meet RTO?
- Recovery plan execution – Test disaster scenarios and associated procedures.
- Validation in isolated environments – Restore to separate infrastructure without impacting production.
Take recovery testing seriously to uncover weaknesses in documentation and procedures.
10. Inadequate Data Isolation
Maintaining backups alongside live data provides insufficient isolation when disasters strike. Protect backups by isolating them from production environments.
Improving backup isolation:
- Separate retention schemes – Shorter on live data, longer retention for backups
- Isolated storage – Dedicated backup repositories separate from production storage.
- Remote sites – Geographic separation protects from regional outages.
- Immutable storage – Backups can’t be modified or deleted for set retention periods.
While inconvenient, strict backup isolation is necessary for proper data protection.
Key Takeaways
- Implementing a backup solution is essential, but needs regular testing and monitoring.
- Backups kept exclusively onsite leave you vulnerable to site disasters. Maintain offsite copies.
- Recovery testing proves you can rebuild systems from backups when disaster strikes.
- Monitor backup status closely via dashboards, alerts and log centralization.
- Prioritize backup reliability over cost savings – a failed backup is infinitely expensive!
What other backup pitfalls should IT professionals beware of? Share your top backup tips in the comments below!
