Data Recovery is Critical

A Backup Article Contributed by Melissa Larose

Data Recovery is Critical

What is data recovery and why is it important? The simple answer is data recovery is rescuing data that is corrupted via media damage, such as a virus, a disk crash, or hard drive damage. The answer to why is data recovery important has as many answers as there are those that lose data.

Business Critical Data Recovery

Critical data recovery has come to the forefront of the business mind in recent years due to the ever-pending "terrorist" attack and the never-ending string of natural disasters. More and more businesses keep more and more critical data on their desktops and the company network. This is data that is critical to their personal lives as well as the day-to-day running of the business.

But the truth is the need for data recovery can come from many sources, both human and natural. The reliability of magnetic media, such as tapes and disks, is only as good as the manufacturing processes that produce them and the people that handle them. And the actual data backup processes may not be as reliable as one might think. The mechanics involved can fail just like the person who has designed and implemented them can fail in creating a sound process.

Testing for Data Recovery

The possible need for data recovery requires constant upkeep and testing of data backup processes and maintenance checks of the media that stores the data. Making the testing process part of your business practices can assist the bottom line when it comes to minimizing the need for data recovery.

All media used for backup must be tested periodically to assure that data is still available. Finding out after the fact that the data is not available is not going to work. In addition, critical data must have more than one backup. The backup locations must not be located together so that damage to one cannot affect damage to the second. Backing up to removable data and storing that disk off-site as well as on a separate server off the company network is recommended.

Prioritize for Data Recovery

The computer age was suppose to mean a paperless working environment. Data recovery needs may sometimes mean referring back to paper documents. Paper documents need to be protected as well as data on disk.

Prioritizing data for recovery can assist in the speed of recovery. In some instances duplicating data centers may be necessary.

Stay current and revise all plans as needed. Don't put all backups in the hands of one person. Data recovery may suffer when that person is no longer around.

Applying Lessons Learned about Data Recovery

Accept that things can go wrong and will. Plan accordingly. Lost data can bring a company to a grinding halt and can mean the loss of income for everyone, including clients. Take note of all "disaster" incidents and address each one. Review theses incidents as a team and incorporate ways to prevent them from happening again.

Data recovery is critical to the health of all viable businesses. All businesses should have a data recovery plan.