Backups that are actually backups

Most businesses believe they have backups. Many have a copy of their data sitting on the same machine as the original. When that machine fails, both go.

Three questions

1. Is it somewhere else? A real backup is on a different disk, ideally a different building, or in a different service. If it shares the original's fate, it is a copy, not a backup.

2. Is it recent? Nightly is a sensible default for a business system. Know the answer to "what would we lose if it failed this afternoon?"

3. Has anyone restored from it? A backup you have never restored is a hope. A test restore proves the files are readable and tells you how long recovery takes.

How we set it up for software we install

The system makes a database backup every night, keeps recent days and weekly copies, mirrors uploaded files, and writes a health warning to the event log if a backup has not run. The last step is the important one that is often left out: a person at the client copies that backup folder off the server into the backup the company already trusts, and we agree a test restore.

What to do if you are not sure

Ask your IT provider two things: where is the copy, and when did we last restore from it. If the answers are vague, that is the first job.