In 2014, a New York real estate company thought that it was on top of the world. Thriving within a healthy housing market, the company had far more potential buyers than available inventory. People who wanted homes in the most desirable neighborhoods had to go on waiting lists. Then, the unthinkable happened: A fire caused total destruction to the office and all of its computers.
We Backed Everything Up!
The company had what it thought was an intelligent backup plan. The head of the IT department backed up the entire contents of the server to a tape at the end of each week. When the backup was complete, the IT manager placed the cartridge in a safe deposit box. Backup drives and tapes are very costly, though, so the company only purchased one of each.
After a couple of months, the company moved into a new office. Finally, it was time to restore all of the customer data from the backup tape. Halfway through the backup, though, a message appeared on the server: "Backup Failed." Within a year, the company was bankrupt.
The Reality of Data Loss
Although the example given above was a fictional account, it could easily have been real. We don't have to tell you that data loss is a terrible disaster for any business. If you're one of the types that believes your business could survive unscathed through a disaster, it's good that you're optimistic but the data paint a different picture. The statistics suggest otherwise. According to the National Archives and Records Administration, data loss drives nine out of 10 US companies to bankruptcy within one year of the disaster. More than half file for bankruptcy as soon as the disaster occurs.
Some of the causes of data loss for businesses include:
- Office fires or natural disasters
- Computer failure
- Hacking
- Viruses and malware
- Employee error
- Theft
If your business doesn't have a foolproof backup solution in place, you're taking a risk that you probably can't afford.
Why Businesses Don't Prepare for Data Loss
When a business doesn't have a good backup and disaster recovery plan, a variety of factors can contribute. The primary factor may be cost. If you want to handle your backups entirely in house — and you want to do it right — these are a few of the expenses you'll need to plan for.
Redundant hard drive arrays, Tape backup drive, Tapes for storing data
- Redundant hard drive arrays to protect against the failure of individual hard drives
- Tape backup drive for creating removable backups
- Tapes for storing data -- ideally one for each day of the week plus two additional sets of seven for storage in separate secure offsite locations
Enterprise-class hard drives cost at least $100 each. You'll need at least four to implement a redundant array. A networked storage device to hold the hard drives costs at least $500. A tape drive costs about $4,000. A 6.25 TB tape — capable of holding the full contents of 1-2 hard drives — costs approximately $30. You'll need to buy at least 27 of them, though, at a total cost of around $810.
So, if you want a completely foolproof backup solution for your business, the total cost will exceed $5,000 — and that total doesn't include the expenses associated with manpower, transportation and offsite storage. Data protection is an expensive logistical nightmare for a small business.
Backup and Disaster Recovery Planning
Business continuity planning is a term that describes a company's plan to bounce back, recover and continue operating in the event of a disaster. Your company's data is one of its most important possessions — you need a plan to protect it. Do you really have tens of thousands of dollars to spend on backup hardware, storage, transportation and logistics, though? Wouldn't you rather spend that money on acquiring new customers?
There is a better way.
The Cloud: Making Data Protection Less Expensive and More Reliable
By using an outside provider of cloud services, you can configure an automatic real-time backup that automatically synchronizes the contents of your crucial computers with remote servers over the internet. By implementing this one simple solution, you're automatically protecting your business against any disaster than can occur within the office.
What about problems within the remote facility, though? If you enter into a contract with the right facility, you'll enjoy complete protection from disasters of every possible type. A good cloud provider won't just have redundant hard drives. They'll have much more.
Remember, the Cloud doesn't exist in just one place — it exists in multiple data centers around the world. If one facility should experience a disaster, your data will remain protected because the provider will store copies in other facilities as well. Since you'll share resources in the Cloud with other customers, you'll also spend far less than you would if you handled data backups internally.
Establish Your Business Continuity Plan Now
Continuous has provided data backup and disaster recovery services to businesses in New York and New Jersey for nearly 20 years. We understand the challenges associated with making data completely secure, and we're ready to assist with your company's business continuity plan. Contact us today to get started.
