Is Your Data Actually Safe? With the 3-2-1-1 Method, Yes

Most business owners I talk to have some form of backup. Maybe it's an external drive plugged into a server, or perhaps everything is saved in the cloud. While these are great starts, they often have a single point of failure. If your office has a fire, that external drive is gone. If a user accidentally deletes a folder and it syncs to the cloud, that data might be gone before you notice.

To make a backup "trustworthy," we use a framework called the 3-2-1-1 Rule. It sounds like a football play, but it’s actually a recipe for peace of mind.

Breaking Down the 3-2-1-1 Rule

• 3 Copies of Data - You have your original data plus (at least) two backups.
• 2 Different Media - You store those backups on different types of hardware (e.g., a local server and a disk or cloud).
• 1 Offsite - One copy must be physically somewhere else (the cloud is the most efficient way to do this).
• 1 Immutable/air-gapped - This is a copy of your data that cannot be changed or deleted for a set period, which is your best defense against hackers.

Isn’t Maintaining All These Backups Expensive?

This is a fair question. While a trustworthy backup will require some investment, the right perspective will make it a no-brainer to implement:

Data backup isn't an expense; it’s an insurance policy for your time.

A popular analogy is that of the spare tire. Most of the time, you aren’t using it, in fact, you actively hope you won’t have to. However, if/when the time comes that you need it, your spare tire will hold you over long enough for more intensive, permanent repairs. You may not get to your destination as quickly, but you won’t be stranded.

Similarly, your backup can prevent your business from being left dead in the water amid a disaster or cyberattack… especially if it follows the 3-2-1-1 rule. So, while these backups can appear expensive, once you factor in that they help prevent you from having to rebuild from scratch, the comparative costs are minimal.

This becomes even more apparent when you also consider business failure rates following data loss. About half close within two years, and almost half never manage to reopen their doors. With this in mind, a backup is practically a bargain.

We Can Help You Establish a Backup and Disaster Recovery Strategy

Reach out to us to learn more about our BDR services. Give us a call at (804) 264-9339.