Wouldn’t it be easier if you could go back in time?
Corrupt file or wish you could revert-back changes your colleague made?
Most backup services are OKAY… they’ll have a single, up-to-date copy of your files and folders from the last working day. So, in theory, should you suffer a data loss, you’ll be able to recover the most recent copy of your data and be up to date.
If you’ve only lost a single file here & there, having a backup service with Granular Recovery might come in use; however, recovering back to a file at a specific point in history would be even more useful, and here’s where most backup services can’t help you out.
Sounds a bit crazy at first, but, what if last night’s copy is actually ‘too recent’? We’ve all been there… a file gets worked, re-worked and altered once again… but you want to revert to version 2.5 and it’s now on version 7. Restoring last night’s version might get you back to version 5, but that’s nowhere near far back enough.
So, what can you do to fix this?
Rollback-Recovery for set points in time
If you’re with a backup service that includes a feature called; Incremental Backup. This will cover your exact time-hopping needs. Define a custom schedule of points in time where you want to snapshot your file backup – as frequent or infrequent as you need.
If you set specific incremental recovery points for each day at 6pm; at any point in time in the future you’ll be able to restore all, some or one of your files from that specific date.
Sounds like a lot of data? It certainly is.
To enable recovery from an array of points in history, you’ll need your backup service to store a duplicate copy of all or some of your files & folders – for every set recovery point.
Meaning the downside to the flexibility of incremental recovery is the sheer volume of backup storage space required to keep all those multiple copies of your files. But what’s the harm in that?
How can that space be managed professionally?
To get the most from your backup storage space, incremental restoration points can be easily consolidated.
For example, you can opt to continue with a weekly restoration point on each Friday within a month – as your space depletes, those points will be cleared keeping only the last Friday within that month.
To keep a recovery point from the last Friday of each month going back in time, you’ll still need a fair volume of storage. But when storage runs low, you can clear down those recovery points from months in the past at any given time.
All a balance of the usefulness & saving in time/money being able to recover data incrementally vs. the cost of the backup storage space.
In Summary
Backing up your data is not only useful, but can save your Business from utter disaster.
At Advoco, we specialise in learning our clients’ business and best applying solutions to match their needs.
If you would appreciate a free brief discussion about your operational challenges & to explore the threats to your business, please get in touch today – 0345 260 8801 or drop us a line contactus@advoco-solutions.com
