Are you constantly worried about the sudden loss or damage of your data? Or have you ever experienced losing your important data and looking for ways to avoid this problem again?
Data preservation in all its forms of loss, damage or leakage is the biggest concern of all people and organizations today, whether that data is personal or financial data, business reports or even just family photos with beautiful memories, you must have valuable data on your mobile device or computer and you want to protect it so that you can find it permanently without being subjected to a shocking surprise that makes it impossible for you to access that data again! Here comes the role of backup data, which made the world a day dedicated to it in the year due to its importance and the benefit it provides to everyone.
So what is data backup?
Backup data or backup copy is a copy of digital data that is captured and stored in another location separate from its original location so that the person can use it when needed to recover the original copy of the data if it is lost.
Reasons for data loss:
Data loss can occur in many ways, including:
- Hard drive failure
- Harmful software attacks such as ransomware virus
- Human error
- Physical theft.
There are many other ways that can cause your important data to be lost, and regardless of how this may lead, backup will provide you with peace of mind by its ability to keep your data and return it to you in its original version, as well as protect it from any external damage, where backup is a simple form of disaster recovery, and backups are usually stored in a safe and separate location from the original device, such as the electronic cloud.
With data backup, you will never again face the feeling of losing your hard work or cherished memories.
How important is data backup?
The main reason for initiating a data backup strategy is the need to have a secure archive of your important information, whether it’s confidential documents for your business or cherished images for your family, to help you recover data quickly and smoothly if you lose it. Surveys indicate that 30% of people have never backed up their devices. You might think this number is not significant, but in any case we have put it in perspective of comparison to the number of times data is lost according to reports that indicate that:
- 113 Phones are lost or stolen every minute.
- Ransomware attacks a company every 14 seconds, and these viruses are expected to attack a company every 11 seconds by the end of 2021.
- 1 in 10 devices are infected with viruses every month.
The above figures should be enough to get you thinking about data backup, especially if you own a business or organization that contains sensitive data, and whose loss or damage can threaten the organization’s standing with its peers, leaders and managers of today’s organizations must develop an effective strategy for backing up data and begin implementing it as a cornerstone The foundation for digital disaster recovery plan.
What data should you back up?
We can say that the basic rule is to back up data that cannot be replaced if lost.
For individuals this data may include:
- Address books
- Images
- Videos
- Music files
- Emails
- Important documents
- Spreadsheets
- Financial databases
As for enterprises, The data backup process has become more technical and a special strategy is developed for it, and within the backup strategy the important data to be backed up is identified.
For example: Consider copying customer databases, configuration files, device images, operating systems and log files, and the person responsible for data backup operations in the company must be identified, and this process is usually managed by the company’s IT department.
Benefits provided by data backup
Quick access to files
One of the best things about data backup is the ease with which you can retrieve files and information. By copying data backup, you can access your lost files in a matter of seconds, and this process increases the ease and flexibility if you use a cloud storage system, not only can you access your data quickly, but you will have the ability to access this data from anywhere connected to the Internet.
Protection against power outages
Some external factors play a role in major data loss incidents that are out of your control, whether it’s a severe storm or a random power outage, because power outages have the ability to destroy your computer’s hard drive.
A regular backup process will completely relieve you from worrying about data loss as a result of any power problems.
Additional Virus Protection
No doubt you have heard a lot about the chaos caused by data and file viruses in our time, especially ransomware viruses that spread like wildfires and cost organizations huge losses as a result of damaging files by encrypting them in record time, and we talked about this in an article Ransom virus: The most dangerous attacker for institutions in the digital age.
However, one way to help eliminate or reduce the risk of virus threats is to use antivirus programs Regularly backing up your files is an additional security measure against the threat of malware.
Hard Disk Failure Protection
The reasons that can lead to hard disk failure differ. Some stationary drives start to crash when some parts are damaged. It should be noted that not all stationary drives crash directly, as some stationary drives erode gradually over a long period of time.
It does not matter how your hard drive damage or failure may occur. The result is the same, which is the loss of your data! Backup will make you recover from the consequences of this danger quickly without fear or anxiety.
Recovery in case of operating system failure
Most computer malfunctions occur due to operating system failure and there are many reasons that can cause your operating system to malfunction. Some operating systems fail due to incorrect allocation of memory space, while others may fail due to program damage or multiple application errors that worsen over time. Backup is incredibly effective when it comes to maintaining your information in case the operating system crashes.
Data Backup Solutions and Backup Storage Options
When choosing a data backup solution, individuals can take advantage of how companies develop their data backup strategies and do so with recovery point objectives (RPO) and recovery time objectives (RTO) in mind.
What is meant by ROP and RTO?
RPO Is the amount of time between backing up your previous and future data For example, you can back up your data again every 24 hours or every month, in other words, it expresses the period of time in which you will lose your updated data in case of an accident. The shorter the RPO, the less data you will lose and vice versa.
RTO The time it takes to recover your data from your backup. In general, the faster or more your storage solution flows, the faster the recovery time.
Ultimately, the best solution for backup data is the one that fits your needs, and this varies from person to person and certainly varies between individuals and companies.
For this reason, you should consider a number of factors when choosing a backup solution for your data, including:
- Ease of preparation
- Cost
- Storage space
- Secure your data
- How fast your data is backed up
- Ease of access to backing up your data
Data backup solutions
We will now highlight four common solutions for data backup and storage considerations.
Using Peer to Peer to host and share file
Well, if it’s shared with multiple users, it won’t be lost in most cases. Usually it’s one computer that get the problem and can’t access the files anymore, but what if the same files are shared and hosted in multiple computers at once? You get it, it would never be lost. In fact that’s one of the most suitable solutions for enterprises to share the important files between all of the members and make sure they’re backed up at the same time.
The catch here is that you can’t share sensitive files with everyone else, and this won’t be working as needed for individuals private files. It’s a very good solution for enterprises for common files between employees, making them easier to share and delivering a copy to everyone as a backup.
If you’re interested about the P2P model, you can always consider to use Crux, which we do provide for free. That will easily allow you to share any type of files with other people based on the Peer to Peer sharing model.
Removable media: small storage space
Removable media generally refers to small mobile devices that are often used to transfer files from one device to another. This includes CDs, DVDs and portable USB drives, all of which are compatible with laptop and desktop computers.
The size of these media indicates their storage capacity, some of which support less than 128MB, while others have the capacity to store up to 256GB. In general, the storage capacity of these media is small and does not suit big data backup, in addition to the fact that these media do not have any additional security features in case the drive is lost or stolen.
External hard drives: large storage space
In this case, an external fixed drive is connected to a computer or laptop from the outside via cables or wirelessly. Examples of external hard drives can include portable USB drives and hard disk drives, also known as SSDs.
Similar to removable media, external hard drives are portable and easy to use, but can store files larger than 128 GB to 10 terabytes. This solution is most compatible with desktop and laptop computers.
Cloud backup: flexible storage
Cloud backup allows users to back up their data to remotely located devices. Users can access and manage their data at any time and on any device via the Internet.
Most cloud storage services provide a large amount of storage space as well as content encryption for data security. It includes some common cloud storage solutions that you can actually use iCloud or Google Drive or Dropbox, and all compatible with cell phones, tablets, desktops and laptops.
Backup services: huge and secure storage space.
This solution is followed by companies and organizations that have a huge set of important data and precious files, as managers of these organizations seek the assistance of professionals and external specialists to help in data backup by using the backup service, where they have access to robust backup software or devices or even mixed data backup solutions.
Basically, in this solution you will pay for their reliable and secure service to manage your data and help you protect it.
Common questions about data backup
What is data backup?
Backup or backup data is a copy of digital data that is captured and stored in another location separate from its original location so that the person can use it when needed to recover the original copy of the data if it is lost.
How does data loss or loss of data occur?
Data loss can occur in many ways, including: hard drive failure. Harmful software attacks such as ransomware. Human error. & Physical theft.
What are the benefits of backing up data?
ud Quick access to files. Protection against power outages. Additional protection against viruses. ist Protection against hard disk failure.
What is cloud backup?
Cloud backup is a type of service through which cloud computing resources and infrastructure are used to create data, backup services or applications, edit, manage and restore. This is done remotely over the Internet.
What are data backup solutions?
The best solution for backing up data is the solution that fits your needs, and this varies from person to person and certainly varies between individuals and companies. Removable media: small storage space. External hard drives: large storage space. Cloud backup: flexible storage. Backup services: huge, secure storage space.
