Backups and how you manage them

So we are all familiar with backups, why we need them and how they work. But how do you manage your backups?

Now you’re probably thinking I use XZY backup software and it’s all automated and it just works. Well thats great but how do you keep track of whats backed up, how often and where is it backed up to. If your only source of that information is your backup software then you might need to re-think your plan.

What ever reason you have for needing to access a backup you need your response to be calculated. If you are following the 321 rule then you should have multiple copies of your data on different mediums plus an offsite copy.

So how do you keep track of what copies are stored where and how often they are made, for a single server this isn’t a lot of information but for 10 or more servers you suddenly have quite a lot of information you should be recording.

Your backup “plan” could be as simple as listing everything in a spreadsheet which can be an appendices to your disaster recovery plan. The important thing is to have this information so that if you ever do need to restore data you have everything at your fingertips.

Also don’t put all of your eggs in one basket and use multiple backup servers and use more than one vendors software. Backups are about redundancy and relying on a single platform for recovery is just as dangerous as only having one copy of data.

Email, SMS and push notifications are also your friend when is comes to knowing that status of backups. Some systems like PRTG also allow you to add sensors to monitor backup software.

So now is as good of a time as ever to review your backup system, make sure it’s capturing everything you expect and that you can successfully recover data.