Our disaster recovery plan goes something like this “HELP, HELP!” – Dilbert
If your server/cloud/laptop/PC were to suddenly crash and be devoid of all the work and information you have stored on it, what would happen?
Do you have someone to call and if so, do they have a plan in place? How long would you be down? Is the information anywhere else? If you have a backup procedure in place, is someone testing it to ensure it works? The backup report may say things are fine but do you know that for sure?
These are the questions that should keep you up at night because when something catastrophic takes place (and it will); having these questions answered is the difference between being able to walk again or being crippled. The key is to have redundancy for EVERYTHING and it’s not as expensive as you might think
File Backups are basic but vital
If you don’t have a backup plan for your data, get one. Backblaze or Crashplan work fine for backing up files but it doesn’t backup entire servers so your programs, databases, or email will often have to be re-installed.
With servers, you probably need a more heavy-duty program like Carbonite, Acronis, or Symantec Backup Exec. When the shit hits the fan, you need a process in place that will allow you to not only restore files but also applications, settings, configurations, databases, and all the other integral aspects of your business. Diagnose what is important, find out if it’s backed up and if it isn’t then create a Disaster Recovery plan for it so you know what your downtime will be
Redundant Internet is for everyone now that the majority of your business is in the cloud
If the cost of lost time/money from a down internet connection is more than the cost of a second monthly internet connection bill then internet redundancy is an obvious need.
You pay for that second internet connection and then set up your firewall so that it will seamlessly switch over when your main internet connection is down. It doesn’t require anything other than a decent firewall, a little configuration, and the monthly cost of a second internet bill. For a couple hundred bucks of setup and a $200 monthly bill you can guarantee that if your main internet connection is down for 2 minutes, your router will automatically kick over the backup internet line.
Backup internet is REALLY SIMPLE to set up and not expensive considering the loss in labor and sales when phones and internet go down.
Create and document your plan
Now that your devices are backed up and confirmed to be working, ask yourself ‘how you will work if devices A, B or C go down’? What happens if your mail server goes down? What happens if your modem goes down (we covered this already so I’m sure you’ve got a backup internet line)?
The key is to ask, what would happen if this went down, can we recover it, and then HOW will we recover it or work around it until it is recovered. Keep data backed up on another server, have spare devices, route email through a smart host, whatever it takes. There are solutions for all these issues and some of them are budget-friendly.
If you need help with data security and disaster recovery please reach out to the experts at LME Services
