Mirazon would like to officially welcome you and your business into 2022!
We all have personal resolutions, but what about resolutions for your IT department?
Mirazon wants the best for your business. Just like your personal resolutions, your business resolutions are important. Having a healthy IT system will help your business reach its goals, which is why we are implementing our IT Fitness Campaign – to make sure your business is aware of IT health, its importance for overall success, and tips to help you get started.
What is IT Health?
IT Health encompasses a variety of topics including checking/testing backups, security posture, and security awareness training to name a few. The metrics provided when testing your IT system allow you to evaluate what needs to be improved in order to meet your goals. Overall, IT Health is about making sure your systems are secure, updated, efficient, and compatible.
Over the course of this campaign, we will cover 8 different topics that will help you to ensure your IT system stays healthy, as well as information and advice that will help you implement these checks on a routine basis.
To start, let’s focus on Checking Backups…
Week 1: Checking Backups
Checking your system’s backups is crucial for protecting against data loss in the event of a natural disaster, power outage, hardware failure, viruses, or human error. But it’s not just checking that the backups are there – you must also check that the data has been copied correctly.
It’s important to note that preventative measures don’t always work, especially when cyberthreats are constantly evolving, natural disasters are becoming increasingly prevalent, and insider threats are often unseen.
To make sure your data is protected and accessible for when you need it, your business must check its backups to ensure quality and consistency, and make sure they are error-free.
Here are some tips that will help you get started:
- Consider digitizing physical documents: Of course, performing backups on digital data is a given, but you should also consider digitizing your physical documents. This is because if there are important documents only in physical form, they could potentially be destroyed during a fire, natural disaster, or any other threats listed above. If there is a digitized version that has been backed up, you will still be able to access it.
- Automate your backups: Depending on the size of your business, you may need to perform backups on a weekly or monthly basis. This ensures no data or files are missed during these backups, as they will be performed on a regular basis.
- Check your backups: Don’t just check the existence of your backup. You should also check the files and make sure all the data has been copied correctly and that they don’t contain any errors. Make sure the file sizes and dates match the original copies.
- Reevaluate what you’re backing up: You should always check exactly what you’re backing up and make any changes to this as you deem necessary for proper data backup. Examples of this include moved directories, new applications, new sites, etc.
- Make sure you’re able to restore the data: It’s very important that the way you’re backing up your data allows you to restore it. This means that everything is properly updated and able to sync the restored data correctly so you can actually use it.
- Follow the 3-2-1 Rule: If you really want to make sure your backups are secure, follow this rule. Keep at least three (3) copies of your data, store the data in at least two (2) different formats (disk, tape, cloud, etc.), and keep one (1) copy offsite.
While no business can predict the loss of data, you can make sure your business has the right tools and routines that lead to the success of your goals. Checking your backups will guarantee your business is ready for whatever comes its way – either good or bad.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please call 502-240-0404 or send us an email at info@mirazon.com