Information is at the heart of everything a modern company does, which is why protecting it is so important. Having effective cybersecurity in place reduces the risk of a cyberattack, and a disaster recovery plan can help you get back on your feet after an office fire, but for true peace of mind you need a current, reliable copy of your data. In fact, you need more than one, but more on that shortly.
Let’s look at some best practices for developing your own data protection strategy, as well as some of the solutions we have implemented for our customers.
What Data Should You Back Up?
You should protect files and databases to reduce the risk of loss, but you should also cover your applications, operating systems, and everything else you can. Virtual machines should be included along with their management consoles. Do not overlook mobile devices either; your CEO’s phone may hold more sensitive information than some of your desktop computers.
Review the scope of what you are protecting regularly as your organization’s needs and circumstances change.
The Three-Two-One Rule
The 3-2-1 backup rule is an industry-standard approach to data protection. It represents the minimum requirements that must be met for your saved copies to be considered reliable.
Why Is It Called the 3-2-1 Method?
- Three
Keep at least three copies of your information. That means, in addition to the original, you should maintain at least two additional saved copies. - Two
Use at least two different types of storage media. Hard drives, cloud platforms, and magnetic tape are all viable electronic options. In some cases, the original may be a physical document, in which case paper counts as one media type. The critical point is to have diversity across at least two different storage formats. - One
At least one of your copies should be kept in a separate physical location from the other two. This reduces the risk of all three versions being destroyed in the same incident. For example, you might keep one copy on a desktop PC and another on an on-premises hard drive, but an office fire could wipe out both simultaneously. A third copy stored off-site or in the cloud would survive such an event, leaving your information safe and recoverable.
Make sure the solution you choose can protect all your data. If it only covers virtual machines and you also have a physical server, some content will go unprotected. You need a solution that covers every device and system correctly.
Storing multiple copies on different internal drives within the same server is not sufficient, as a single server failure would take all of them down at once. For the same reason, keeping several saved versions in the same RAID array or within the same cloud account does not satisfy this requirement. The storage locations and media types must be genuinely separate and independent from one another.
Implementing the 3-2-1 Approach
Most people treat the original file as the first copy, meaning you need to create at least two additional protected versions.
For your local copy, suitable media includes:
- Hard drive
- NAS drive
- USB drive
- Optical media (CD, DVD, Blu-ray)
For your off-site copy, options include:
- Physical media held at a separate location
- A public cloud storage platform
- A private cloud network
- A third-party data center
How Organizations Should Apply the 3-2-1 Rule
Following this approach helps safeguard your organization against information loss. Well-structured data protection like this is essential for recovering quickly after a breach or ransomware attack. For this reason, most companies’ disaster recovery plans include some form of off-site copy to maintain continuity if their primary site becomes unusable.
Depending on how business-critical the information you are protecting is, you may want to go beyond the minimum requirements and create additional copies. Some organizations store a version in a different country, not just a different location. Before transferring any records off-site, however, you should consult a data protection specialist to confirm you are not inadvertently violating any state or federal privacy laws.
The 3-2-1 approach is a sound general guideline for organizations of any size. It increases the reliability of your protection strategy and guards against the majority of threats, from ransomware attacks to natural disasters.
Ensure the software you choose is compatible with all the storage locations and media types you plan to use in order to stay compliant with this framework.
How Carden IT Services Can Help You Find The Right Solution
At Carden IT Services, we offer professionally managed disaster recovery services. We audit your network, protect business-critical information off-site, and put measures in place to maintain continuity before and after an incident.
We have implemented comprehensive data protection solutions for both small and large enterprises and have the knowledge, technology, and expertise to secure your organization’s most important files. Each of our clients has a dedicated account manager who works closely with them to understand their setup and help develop the most effective recovery plan possible.
All mission-critical information is securely protected off-site in the cloud, allowing you to recover and restore it quickly in the event of a disaster. It also means you can resume operations at a secondary site or work remotely if your premises become unusable. We always follow the 3-2-1 principle, and our approach has saved clients from situations that would otherwise have been unrecoverable.
If you would like expert help developing and implementing an effective data protection strategy for your organization, speak to our team today.
