Welcome to the second installment of this mini-series which is looking at the importance of safeguarding your data and security. Last week we examined the different issues that may cause data loss. We also touched on the consequences you could face because of such a loss. Today’s blog discusses back-ups and how the cloud is a great tool to perform these. Storing data in a shared repository will also be analysed as this can tie in with an efficient back-up policy.
Cloud Based Backups
One of the first solutions that springs to mind when deciding how to prevent data loss is back-ups. A back-up is essentially a snapshot of your data at a certain point in time. Backups aid the recovery of lost/ corrupted data. You can choose exactly what data needs backing up (email, documents etc), how often it is backed up (daily, weekly etc), and where the back-ups are stored. Back-ups are primarily stored either in physical premises or on the cloud.
Some key advantages of cloud based back-ups are:
Simplicity of Recovery – With just a few clicks of your mouse, you can recover your documents.
Accessibility – As long as you have an internet connection you will have access. You do not need to manually visit the office to recover a file.
Cost – Cloud based backups can be a more cost-effective solution compared to standard back-up processes. The requirement for hardware to store the back-ups disappears. This in turn reduces start-up and maintenance costs. Transportation fees associated with retrieving back-ups from off-site premises are also removed.
Physical threat prevention – No need to worry about physical issues such as fires, accidents, theft etc.
Time – The cloud automatically backs up files. This means they do not require any user interaction to keep kick-starting the process. Sometimes file restoration needs to occur immediately. This means time can be a huge factor.
Storing Data
You shouldn’t underestimate Shared Drives and SharePoint as file storage options. Placing your files in a shared location will of course have the benefits of encouraging collaboration. However, in addition to this is the fact that this data is far easier to backup. This is due to the data all being in one repository, and not on several different personal computers.
Anyone that has ever saved a file to their desktop and accidentally erased it, will understand how infuriating it is when you learn the file is irretrievable. We can end this painful experience by saving data into a backed-up shared location.
One other benefit of storing data in a shared location is you can incorporate further measures such as security groups. This means individual files can be locked down to specific people. This in turn means data is less likely to end up in the wrong hands, which brings us full circle. Security is paramount as always!
Contact Us
Next week we will release the final part of this series. We will be deliberating over the need for Anti-Virus software, firewalls and other data protection solutions.
If you would like to hear how Bang IT Solutions can help your business stay protected, as always, please feel free to contact us at security@bangitsolutions.com
Thanks for reading,
Bang IT Solutions.