Hurricane Dorian and Your Backups

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This morning me and my dog, Picard, woke up early and walked out to the beach to see the sunrise. We’re on vacation here on the east coast, and seeing the sun come up over the ocean while my dog runs around is one of my favorite things to do. But this morning wasn’t like most. This morning the winds were high, the surf was rough, and we got caught unexpectedly by a rain shower that was part of Hurricane Dorian, which isn’t supposed to hit here for another 3-4 days.

As I’m sitting here on the couch typing this blog up, soaking wet from the storm, I told myself I should not write another blog about backups or UPS power protection. But despite my best efforts, here I am, doing just that.

According to StorageCraft, a backup solution provider, the leading cause of losing data is hardware failure accounting for 31% of data loss incidences. Following that, malware/ransomware and human error are tied for 2nd place, accounting for 29% of data loss incidences each. Worse yet, 34% of firms, according to Boston Computing Network, fail to regularly test their backups. This is alarming because of firms that do test their backups, 77% of them regularly find some sort of a backup failure. And if the above statistics haven’t scared you enough, a whopping 93% of companies that lose access to their datacenter file for bankruptcy within one year.

So, what can you do to keep from becoming a statistic?

  1. Back up your data! This seems obvious, but it needs to be said. Use a reliable backup technology that is trusted in the IT industry that comes with support. Support for your backup technology is critical when you are trying to do a restore and need it!
  2. Check your backups every day. Your backups are only good if you know they are occurring, and in this case not knowing could very well hurt you!
  3. Do a test restore at least four times a year. This not only gives you the assurance that your backup data is good and useable in a disaster, but it also gives your IT guy practice doing a restore which will minimize downtime following a disaster.
  4. Figure out how long you can afford to be down, and plan! If your datacenter is taken out by say, a hurricane, how long can you be down before you go out of business? A day? Two? Keep in mind, it may take time to get replacement servers and you probably want a plan to get you up and running before you get your new server.

Data loss is preventable, if you plan and prepare. Make sure your business is ready to weather this storm season and call us today so we can help with your Disaster Recovery backups and plan!

This publication contains general information only and Sikich is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or any other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such professional advice or services, nor should you use it as a basis for any decision, action or omission that may affect you or your business. Before making any decision, taking any action or omitting an action that may affect you or your business, you should consult a qualified professional advisor. In addition, this publication may contain certain content generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) language model. You acknowledge that Sikich shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by you or any person who relies on this publication.

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