Best Backup Solutions for Your Small Business

Running a business requires hard work and dedication. In order to protect your investment, you must take a very important step: Data Backup. Modern small businesses depend on IT and by extension, data. Whether it is client’s information, customer’s orders or business processes, protection of this data is vital to your business’ survival. Data is everywhere in business and its loss can be disastrous.
Many business owners are having a hard time deciding on the best solution for their business because of a large number of backup options.
Below we discuss the best backup solutions out there and what you should consider before adopting one.
Factors to Consider when Choosing Backup Solutions
- Data Size: The volume of your business data and their rate of growth are important when you are choosing a backup solution.
- Organization Size:
This can influence your preference for either on-premise or online storage. Businesses operating from various locations will require a more robust solution that can combine data than those with single location operation.
- Regulatory Requirement:
For many businesses, data backup isn’t just an optional security measure to manage disaster but a mandatory legal requirement which a non-compliance can attract stiff penalties.
- Recovery Objectives: Some organizations can tolerate short-term outages. But if you need a rapid recovery solution because downtime is costly for your business, choose a solution that allows you to access and recover backup data quickly.
Best Backup Solutions
Network Attached Storage (NAS)
NAS is a flexible backup option that connects and store files over your computer network. It includes slots for multiple hard drives to expand its storage capacity. With its many file protocol, NAS operates seamlessly with both desktops and laptops. NAS acts as a server connecting your computer network to multiple storage devices.
It is low cost and suitable for small business with multiple computers. Because NAS is not removable, it is susceptible to the same disasters that affect a business’ premise. Some type of NAS with RAIDS technology offers high-level performance.
Cloud Backup
Cloud backup is a very popular backup method. It allows you to back up your data to a third-party server such as Amazon Drive. All you need to do is subscribe to your preferred service and configure your service provider app to automatically back up some or all of your business data at regular intervals.
Cloud backup is low cost and is often free for limited storage. As an off-site storage, it is protected from any disaster that may affect your business IT infrastructure. It may not be a good solution if you want more data privacy.
Another type of cloud backup is private cloud storage which is run and operated by individual businesses. It addresses the problem of privacy that is associated with public cloud storage.
Direct Attached Storage (DAS)
These are storage devices that are directly attached to a computer through an adapter. DAS includes, hard drives, SSDs, and optical drives.
They are affordable as a single unit but each computer will require its own DAS device which may be costly for businesses with a large number of PCs. They are generally not safe from business premise disasters and may not be a suitable tool for backup and recovery plan.
Optical drives such as DVD and Blu-ray discs have largely been replaced as a storage option for businesses. But they are useful in specific situations such as archival storage of small size files.
Conclusion
The best backup strategy is a combination of options where one solution complements the other. Some of the options are easy to deploy but others need the evaluation and expertise of a Business IT support specialist. It is important to test the integrity of your backup solutions before they are needed so they are ready in case of disaster. You are securing your business’ future by protecting your data through a backup and disaster recovery plan. Don’t wait until a problem arises because many companies never recover from data loss. Stay ahead of the game and contact SDTEK to learn more about how you can keep your company safe and secure.
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