Don't worry. Our data is backed up..... I think

Written by Jason Vanzin
How would your company cope if you lost all the data on your network? If you think it wouldn't be so bad, shut your servers down for an hour and two and see the chaos that ensues.

Disaster recovery isn't sexy, but it's one of the most important IT functions within any organization, from a one man shop to an international conglomerate.

Many times I have been called out to new clients that have just experienced some type of failure or catastrophe that requires recovering their data only to find out they were not properly backing up their data. Most businesses either (A) don't have their data backed up like they are supposed to or (B) thought they had it backed up to tape or some other medium only to discover the tape is bad.

As you can imagine, stress levels skyrocket, and wallets open widely to get back what they can.
Analysts estimate that 40% to 70% of tapes backups fail when restores are attempted. Considering the cost of tape drives, tapes, and the software to back up your data, this is a horrific statistic.

How much would it cost an engineering firm if millions of dollars in drawings were lost to a failed server or a fire. Even if hard copies were available, the man hours needed to receate those drawings could be enough to put the firm under.

Not only do you have to worry about your backup failing, you also have to worry about your tapes falling into the wrong hands. Your entire company's data is backed up to tape if you are backing up to tape. If your IT guy is worth his salt, he probably has you taking the tapes offsite in the event of a fire, flood, or some other disaster. The problem with taking them offsite is most the time they are taken home with an employee, which opens you up to the risk of the tape being lost or stolen.
How much would it cost your company if you lost a tape, and someone used it to get all of your clients' social security numbers, bank account numbers, etc? How long would your clients stay with you, and how much liability would you be exposed to?

Tape is a thing of the past, and it should go the way of zip drives and floppies. Newer technologies are now available from companies like EssentiaLink that can provide continuous backups to a fixed storage device, and the data can also be sent via the internet to an offsite datacenter. All data should be encrypted, so there is no exposure to theft and liability.