Server Backup and Business Continuity Systems: What should you look for?

Not all disaster recovery, business continuity and server backup systems are created equal.

When you’re looking for a server backup system, you need to ensure these features are included:

• Image-based backups of the entire server or computer being backed up
• Automatic hybrid storage locally and in the cloud
• Automatic backup testing (with screenshot verification)
• Seamless upgradability

Image-Based Backups

Image-based backups (compared to file backups) allow for lightning fast restorations of entire systems, sometimes in under a few seconds.

Hybrid Backup Storage

Backup datasets should be stored locally and in the cloud.  In the event of a local failure (server room flooded?) you can still get your data back from the cloud.  With some systems you can even spin servers up in the cloud and reattach to them.

Automatic Backup Testing

A huge number of backups are corrupt and you won’t find out until you go to restore the data.  Good business continuity systems continuously check and re-check backups for integrity.

Seamless Upgradability

Some systems require you to replace entire machines in order to upgrade to a larger amount of stored data, requiring you to throw out your historical backups in the process.  Find a system with seamless upgradability that will protect you now and well into the future despite growth.

Get Serious About Business Continuity

When a business demands more than just a server backup solution, get serious about a comprehensive Business Continuity solution. However, it’s key to look at all the elements before making a decision between uptime and downtime.