Making a Backup Schedule

So you want to backup your companies data, and before now you've never thought about a proper backup routine?

Well there's a few things you need to work out;

• What are you backing up?
• How are you planning to do it?
• What are you backing up too?
• How long will it take?
• When are you going to do it?
• How often are you going to do it?
• Where are you going to store your backups?

What are you backing up?

Pretty simple question eh? well no not really. of cause you want all your important files backed up, your documents, work etc. but do you want to backup the system state of your servers? if your server died would it be easy for you to set it up again. and how long can you go without it. if you only have a small company you might simply want to backup the actual data rather than the server itself. It's important to workout how long you can go without a resource, the damage/costs incurred without that resource and how long it will take you to replace, repair or rebuild it.

How are you planning to do it? 

How do you plan to back it up, are you going to do it manually? run a script or invest in some software? This really all depends on what you are backing up and how much. If you want to backup a machine in its entirety then the best option would be to buy some backup software, but if you just want to backup some data you could run a script to copy it. Backup software is arguably more efficient and robust but it depends on the scope of your project, again its all about working out what you need to backup and hoe long you can go without it.

What are you backing up too?

If you know how much Data you plan to backup and how much you want to spend on a solution then this bit should be pretty easy for you. The simplest way to do a backup is to copy data to a device that you can then take away and store off site usually one or more Tapes. A tape drive itself and its associated software and media can cost anywhere from several hundreds to several thousands of pounds. a cheaper option that I've seen in place is to use high capacity flash drives or even external usb drives, but whatever you choose make sure you leave room for more data, if you want to backup 500gb, don't get something that only holds that, because over time you are going to get more data and thus use more space so leave room for growth.

How long will it take?

Assuming you know how much data you have, and how fast the backup media is you should be able to work it out but remember as in anything else things can often take longer than they seem. if files are locked or in use it can take a lot longer.

When are you going to do it?

The best time to backup your data is during periods of low activity, which usually means the evenings. you can usually avoid pesky problems like files being locked and doing it after everyone's gone means the chance of people complaining about performance issues is negligible.

How often are you going to do it?

What ever solution you choose its important to keep your backups regular, do you need to do them once a day? once a week? well this is something for you to workout. how often is your data accessed and whats the chances of data being permanently lost in between backups.

Where are you going to store your backups?

This is by far one of the most important choices you will make, you need to work out where to store your backup media. For example if you keep them in your office drawer and there's a fire you've more than likely lost not only your server but your backups too. the best practice is to keep your backups in a secure offsite location. whether that means keeping weekly tapes on site (again in a secure location like a fire proof safe) and having monthly and yearly tapes held off site that's up to you. If you don't want to buy an offsite safe or don't have anywhere to put it, there are some services that will collect, securely transport and store your backup media for you.

Other useful thoughts

Even if you have a Backup in place now, or know what you are going to do, remember to teach someone else how to do it, document it and keep that off site too. If you are the only one who knows how to restore the data and you are unavailable (injured, on Holiday, whatever) then you might as well not bother to do one in the first place!

Any thoughts questions of feedback would be great

Dan!