The Importance Verifying your Backups
We were asked to supply a new computer and restore the data from user’s USB Drive.
Upon examining the contents of the USB Backup Drive, we could not find any useful data to restore.
The Backup was originally set up by a relative and it was apparently working over the last 2 years.
When I asked “how do you know that the backup was working”, the Answer was “There was a light on the USB Drive”.
Unfortunately, a light on a backup device does not confirm that your data is actually being backed up successfully or that the data can be restored when you need it
Backups need to be regularly checked and verified.
A proper backup strategy should include:
- Regular checks that backups are completing successfully
- Verification that the backed-up data is actually accessible
- Periodic test restores to confirm that data can be recovered
- More than one backup where appropriate, preferably including an off-site or cloud-based copy
Backups are essential for protecting your business and its valuable data. Don’t wait until you need a backup to discover that it isn’t working.
