Data backup is simply the activity of creating copies of data essential to your business. Data is the paramount asset of any business. Your business’ data offers a record of all the transactions as well as the services and products the business offers. Preserving your business data is crucial to the survival and success of your business. Accidental loss of data resulting from accidental deletion, viruses, corrupted files, hardware malfunction or a catastrophe, can be detrimental to your business.
Data backup is your only chance to recover the precious data once it is lost. Therefore, it is important to make a data backup and recovery plan that allows for easy and convenient retrieval. If you are planning a data backup plan, you should consider the following factors.
- You need to consider the relative importance of the data. Not all of the data needs a backup. You can live without disposable data. Daily user files do not need extended backup; user database needs to be preserved.
- Consider the sensitivity of your data. If the data is crucial and critical to the survival of business it must be physically stored on DVDs or Hard-drives.
- The frequency of modification in your data should also be kept in mind. If you run a business, where the information keeps changing every day or every week, you may need to backup the data accordingly.
- The retrieval of data is important. If you need your data recovered quickly and conveniently, you may need to store your backup online.
- If your business is prone to risks, they should also be accounted for in your backup plan. If theft or physical data is a risk factor, keeping a physical backup somewhere else other than your office may be better.
- Backing up your data may involve moving large amounts of data from one file to another, eating up a great deal of bandwidth. Schedule your backup during off-peak hours.
These are some of the most discernible factors to consider when backing up your data.
