Backup Service is Vital to Security
- By Ralph C. Jensen
- May 23, 2008
People and data are an organization’s most critical assets. Without both, any workplace will come to a standstill. Problem is, many businesses are not adequately protected against data loss and system failure risks caused by technical, human and natural disasters.
Businesses should look for and employ a backup and recovery system that is reliable, and that allows an organization to maintain a regular backup schedule. This provides an assurance data will always be available, stored securely and meet compliance requirements in case of a disaster, or an even more common simple failure.
According to Doug Howard, chief strategy officer at ePerimeter Security, conventional backup methods such as physical tapes and drives are inefficient, prone to error and incur extensive administrative costs. He said a disk crash or inadequate backup procedure can cause material business disruption and financial loss.
Reliable data backup protection is an essential business practice for organizations of all sizes, and in many industries that are covered by HIPAA or FFIEC. It is critical that organizations have backup that offer reliable and secure IT services to financial services, as well as healthcare organizations for compliance needs.
A few things to consider as features and benefits include secure data storage off site so files can be recovered instantly, which allows system restoration at a specific point in time. It also is important to have multiple encryption methods so an organization can balance between security and backup speed. Broad digital file support ensures that flat files, including open files, such as system state data, SQL, Microsoft Active Directory and Microsoft Exchange databases can be backed up.
It also might be vital to have automated e-mail confirmations so clients will receive a progress report after each backup window, and employ an extreme file compression to maximize storage space by compressing files up to 90 percent of original size.
About the Author
Ralph C. Jensen is the Publisher/Editor in chief of Security Today magazine.