Page 12 - EngineerIT November 2021

ICT

But what if something

happens to your backups?

By Iniel Dreyer, MD at DMPSA

ata backups are essential. Most businesses are aware of this, and many keep a second and
even third copy of their data in a different location. The issue is that this secondary location
Dis often in the same vicinity as the primary data source. But what if something happens to
your data centre? What if you are physically unable to access your data due to external factors like
a Covid-19 lockdown or rioting? Keeping backup data at the same location as primary data is a risk
to business. Offsite data backup has become essential to help businesses safeguard data against
loss and be able to recover in the face of a range of different challenges.

Threats outside of business control
Having backup data is vital in helping businesses to recover lost information if it is accidentally
deleted, or if a ransomware attack occurs, or any number of other problems that may result in
data loss. However, a business could have the best quality backup in the world and still fail to
achieve business continuity, because external factors must also be considered. The recent rioting
in South Africa threw the need for offsite backup into stark relief.
What if your business had been looted or burned down, taking with it not only the production
database but also any and all backups stored onsite? What if data was being backed up offsite to Iniel Dreyer
a data centre and the data centre was looted or burned down? What if backup strategy requires
someone to physically retrieve a copy of data in the event of a loss and nobody is able to get to will have cost and performance implications
the data because riots have shut down the roads, or Covid-19 has caused another hard lockdown? for the business. Working with a trusted
The risk of maintaining backup and production data at the same location is untenable for business service provider will help businesses to
today, and backup strategy needs to be reconsidered. understand the importance of various types
of data, which in turn will define where and
Best practices how it is stored, the cost of this and how
The reality is that if data is lost and is unrecoverable, many businesses will be unable to recover quickly it can be recovered.
from the loss. Equipment can be replaced, even though this may be a costly exercise, but once
data is gone, it cannot be returned without a working and available backup. It is imperative to Data loss versus disaster
keep data offsite, not only in a different room in the same building, but at a completely different There is a vast difference between recovering
location which is at least 50km away, according to data protection best practice. a file that has been deleted, and recovering
The cloud has made this even easier, as data can potentially be stored anywhere, even in from a total system failure or unavailability.
another country should data sovereignty allow for this. However, this is a challenge that many Complete disaster recovery involves so much
businesses continue to grapple with. The recoverability of data must be weighed against the more than just data backup and recovery.
requirements of compliance regulation and the context of the data needs to be understood. A Context is always important, because not all
trusted service provider can assist businesses to find the right solution and the right balance to data is the same, which means that having
meet their requirements. an entire system replicated on hot standby is
often an expensive and unnecessary approach.
The bigger picture Not all data is created equal, it must be
It has become critical to look at the entire picture of data, including its context, in order to find the classified according to the repercussions to
most suitable solution for data backup. The underlying requirement is that a reliable copy of data business should it become unavailable, and
should be stored elsewhere, offsite, but the type of storage should be based on the data itself and this needs to be aligned with the greater
how it needs to be accessed. business continuity plan. Ultimately, data
Data must be classified to understand its value and importance to the business, which will backup is an insurance policy - you need
in turn govern the way it needs to be stored. For example, historical patient information must to make sure you are not over- or under-
be retained for compliance purposes, but may not necessarily need to be accessible instantly, insured, that you are only paying for what
whereas live financial information is far more time sensitive. you need and that you are covered in the
There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to offsite data protection, and every method of storage event of a disaster. n

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