How Are You Celebrating World Backup Day?
Posted March 27, 2019 by Nathan N.
Sunday, March 31st, is World Backup Day. It may not be as exciting as something like National Cheesecake Day, but it does serve as a good reminder to set aside time to go over your backup procedure and disaster recovery plan. Here are some good questions to ask yourself.
AM I DOING ANY KIND OF BACKUP AT ALL?
This is the most important question. The answer should be a strong, confident YES. If it isn’t, I urge you to find a solution ASAP. Trust me, you do not want to be a victim of major data loss!
HOW AM I BACKING UP?
Who is in charge of running the backups? What software program, if any, is running the backups? Where is it installed? When and how often do the backups run? Where does the backup go? Flash drive, external hard drive, network storage appliance, offsite to the cloud? Are the backups only on one device or is there redundancy? Is there a time period in which data expires from the backup? If a file got deleted several months ago, would I be able to restore it from a backup? Are the backups encrypted? What is the process for restoring data from the backup?
WHAT IS GETTING BACKED UP?
Is everything important getting backed up? The obvious things are your practice management software database and patient x-rays, but there are other important things than can get overlooked. Do I use a software program for accounting and financials, and is that data getting backed up? Do I use Outlook to receive and view e-mails? Are e-mails stored on the mail server or do they get saved locally to the computer? Are important documents getting backup? Where are they stored; on a front desk or office computer? Or are they on the server and shared to the other computers in the office? It is a good idea to make a list of all your crucial data and where it is located so that you can ensure it’s backed up and protected.
IS IT WORKING?
How do I know everything I need backed up is getting backed up? Are the backups running every day? How do I know the backup data is good? How do I know it can be restored in a disaster recovery situation? Make certain that your backup is reliable by conducting periodic audits of your backups to make sure everything you need backed up is getting backed up, the backed-up data isn’t bad or corrupt, and the restore process is functional.
WILL MY HAIR GROW BACK AFTER I’VE PULLED IT ALL OUT?
While this may feel like an overwhelming, hair-pulling topic, it doesn’t have to be! With the help of a trusted solution like XLBackup, each of the above questions is answered. You’ll have peace-of-mind knowing you’ve done your part, and we’ve done ours. From secure encrypted data transmission to an offsite location, daily monitoring to ensure your backups are running without error, annual audits of your backups, to restoring your data in a disaster recovery situation, we take care of it.
As you work on this list of questions, if any remain unanswered or have left you feeling uncertain, contact us for more information about the XLBackup Offsite Storage Solution.
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