Backup

A second copy of your files, kept somewhere that cannot be harmed by whatever harms the first one.

Also known as data backup file backup second copy

Definition

A backup is a second copy of your files, kept somewhere that cannot be harmed by whatever harms the first one. That last part is the whole idea, and it is the part most businesses skip.

The old rule still holds. Three copies of anything you cannot afford to lose. On two different kinds of storage. And one of them kept away from the building and away from the network. People remember the first two and forget the third, which is the only one that saves them.

A sync folder is not a backup. Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and the shared network drive all do the same thing. They make every computer show the same files. That is convenient, and it is dangerous. Delete an invoice by mistake and it disappears everywhere within seconds. A folder that copies mistakes as fast as it copies work is a duplicate, not a backup.

Ransomware is the reason one copy must stay out of reach. It is software that locks every file it can open and asks for money. It does not stop at the computer it landed on. It walks along the network and locks the shared drive, the server and any external disk still plugged in. The businesses Linkysoft helps after an attack almost always had a backup, plugged in and locked with everything else. The copy the network cannot touch is the one that comes back.

Ask three questions of whoever holds your data. How far back can I go, yesterday only or the version from three weeks ago before the numbers went wrong? How long does a restore actually take? And when did you last put a real file back from that copy? On Hostrena hosting a site is copied every day and kept for weeks, so a page you broke on Tuesday can come back as it was on Monday. Linkysoft still asks clients to keep a copy of their own, on a disk that lives outside the office. During a security review we test the restore rather than the backup log, because a green log has never brought a file back.

Questions about Backup

Is Google Drive or Dropbox a backup?
No. They keep every device showing the same files, so a mistake spreads instead of being caught. Some hold old versions for a few weeks, which helps, but you still need a copy the network cannot reach.
How often should a backup run?
As often as the work you can afford to lose. A nightly copy means losing up to a day. A shop taking orders all day usually needs one every hour.
Where should the offline copy be kept?
On a disk that is unplugged after each copy and kept outside the building, or with a provider whose stored copies cannot be deleted for a set number of days.
How do I know my backup actually works?
Put a real file back from it. Pick a document, restore it into a spare folder, open it and check the date inside. A log that says success proves nothing on its own.
My website is hosted, so do I still need my own backup?
Yes. The host protects you against a server fault. It does not protect you against deleting the wrong page, or against finding out that the oldest copy kept is newer than the mistake.

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