How to Back Up Your Business Data

Backing up your data is sometimes like working out--you know you should but it often doesn't find itself very high on your priority list. But procrastinating on your business backups may have serious consequences. I don't just mean the inconvenience of your vanished records, documents, and other info; losing third-party data could leave you open for fine, penalties, and legal action.

Almost all businesses have a legal obligation to protect customer data. Those laws come from both state and federal sources--like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), for example--and basically say that when a customer trusts you with their data, it's your job to protect it and provide access upon request. Even if customer data is stored in the cloud it's still your responsibility. If that app company's cloud-based server loses your customer data, you still share the blame, legally to some extent, but also reputationally.

It's time to move backups higher on your list--especially given how these coronavirus times have made our computer systems so crucial.

What Should I Back Up?

First, let's start with this commandment: Do not store files directly on computers. Individual computers are not only prone to crashing, they are harder and more expensive to backup. Instead, store your data in the cloud or onsite in a central location. A network attached storage device (NAS) is a central place in your office to store files. Depending on the size of your office, you could purchase one for as little as $500--or spend thousands of dollars: Basically, the more storage you need, the more expensive the NAS gets. If there are only a few employees, and your files tend to be modest in size (mainly text documents, say), you can start small; then, as your storage needs grow, you can get a larger NAS. For an office of only a few people, Western Digital makes some nice options, like My Cloud); on the higher end, look at Synology for more advanced features.

Off-Site Backups

The second rule of backups: One isn't enough. You should have at least two copies of your data, and they should not be in the same place. If this seems like overkill, ask yourself: Would you keep two copies of your will in the same desk drawer?

This is where your cloud backup comes into play. Some NAS devices come with cloud backup services you can subscribe to; in other cases, you will need to lease a separate service. Backblaze offers an especially good business-oriented storage for relatively low cost.

You have a hidden gem if you use Google's G-Suite or Microsoft 365 (formally known as Office 365). Store your files in Google Drive or Microsoft's SharePoint or OneDrive as part of your service, and they are already in a safe place. The only downside is that if you're working with really large files (those that run into the gigabytes) they might be slow to open or sync. Again, though, remember the rule--two copies of your data. We don't trust any site to be the sole protector of our data. Companies like Acronis are a good source for backing up Google or Microsoft sites.

Security for Servers

But there's more to backup than just your files. You may have professional or industry software packages running, phone servers, and other nerdy things like domain controllers and virtual machines doing very important work. These types of assets are harder to backup but losing them would bring your business to a grinding standstill.

Here's where you have some decisions to make: How fast do you need to be back up and running if your office server dies?

Some backup services take a snapshot of your servers, enabling them recovered if something happens. However, they take time--days or even more than a week, depending on complexity. Other backup services keep a running instance of your server in the cloud and can automatically start working within seconds if they see that your primary server went down.

The latter is much more expensive than the former, not surprisingly They are very hard to price because they depend on size and usage, but--brace yourself--we're talking hundreds of dollars per month. However, if your business can't suffer an outage without it paralyzing operations, it might be money well spent. Think of it as insurance. It might also be tax-deductible, as an business operating expense.

External Hard Drives

Although people often think of external hard drives as places extended filing cabinets--a place to keep additional or specialized files--these portable devices can act as backup sites, too. For example, Apple's Time Machine software, which comes built into Macs, works with an activated external drive to automatically back up everything at regular intervals on your computer.

An external hard drive can cover your computer suffers a crash or a power surge or gets its hard drive hurt in some way. However, because it's connected to your computer, malware or ransomware could conceivably infect it. To guard against that, it's ideal to maintain data on a disconnected device. One easy way, for smaller companies, is purchase two external drives that are both larger that your internal drive. You can switch the drives each month and copy the new data onto the switched drive.

Setting Up the Backup

Putting backup systems in place can be tricky. What if you do it incorrectly? What good is saving your data if you can't recover it when it counts? To assess your needs and devise a backup strategy--and system--it might be very worth your while to work with a professional IT-security firm. Admittedly, I'm a bit biased, since I happen to own one. But for the same reason that I don't work on the gas lines in my home, I'm recommending you consider a pro, at least for a consult. Given the value of your data and legal liability attached to it, backups are way too important to trust to amateurs.

Tim Parker is co-founder and President of The Web Group, an IT consulting firm based in Florida.