Data protection and recovery are essential aspects of any comprehensive business continuity plan. That is because without saving data and protecting it, companies will have a massive challenge ahead of them to continue operating. In fact, after data loss, some businesses may never be able to recover.
That said, a variety of reasons can cause data loss. Many people believe that the primary cause of data loss is malicious attacks and emergencies, such as malware or server shutdowns. However, the most significant cause of data loss is simply human error.
Do you have a data protection and recovery plan created for your business? If not, here are the components you need to think about:
1. Utilising DLM
DLM, or data lifecycle management, is the movement of data from creation to deletion. Under DLM, data is organized into different tiers, depending on the requirements and policies you set. Within these tiers, data can be handled appropriately. For example, suppose DLM categorizes a piece of data under the most critical tier. In that case, it will be moved into another type of storage and saved as read-only to avoid modification.
2. Implement ILM
Like DLM, ILM, or information lifecycle management, is also the movement of data from creation to deletion. ILM specifically addresses the content inside the data files itself. It organizes the content according to set policies that help it value different kinds of content and carry out the proper action. For instance, if ILM finds a file is accessed frequently, it can move it to faster storage.
3. Integrating strong security
Security is a vital aspect of any data protection and recovery plan. It should allow authorized users to quickly access the data and information they need while blocking unauthorized personnel. Your security solution should also include as many security layers as possible, including data encryption and other security implementations, such as data redundancy and regular updates.
4. Planning backup and recovery
Backup and recovery will be the main basis of your data protection and recovery plan. For backups, you will need to set methods for proper backup procedures. This can include the mediums used to store the data and how they are moved, whether remotely or onsite. For data recovery, you will need to outline a process of restoring data when data loss occurs. This is important to reduce downtime that can be costly.
One of the best solutions for both backup and recovery is cloud services. Since everything is accessible online, the ability to backup and restore everything becomes convenient. If downtime occurs, the cloud can still be accessed to allow the business to continue operating while everything is being restored.
Conclusion
Once you have completed planning your entire data protection and recovery plan, do not forget to test it! Run recovery drills to see just how well-implemented the plan is and determine whether changes need to be made. Do not forget to put it through stress tests, such as simulated attacks, to identify any security flaws you need to address.
All in all, thorough planning and testing are what you will need to create a reliable data backup and recovery plan to ensure business continuity, even in the event of data loss.
Mobile PC Pro is a team of expert computer technicians that provide various IT services and IT solutions for data protection, recovery, and more. If you are looking for IT services at the Gold Coast to create your data protection and recovery plan, work with us today!
