As an IT specialist, we understand that getting the best hardware and operating system for your business is crucial. There are two major ones we can take a look at today – Microsoft and Apple. Both have advantages and disadvantages which set them apart from each other. To make things as easy as possible, we’ve set about our comparison below between the two.
We know not everyone is tech-savvy when it comes to IT and computing, including dealing with processes such as storage, backup, disaster recovery and business continuity. To eliminate any confusion, we’ve put together an article which should help straighten things out. Read more below.
All of your data needs to be stored securely. For example, if you’re writing a novel with a pen and paper, the paper in computing could represent a hard drive which is already in your computer, or external storage options such as a USB pen drive or the cloud.
In a digital world, you can have lots of versions of your data in different places. This means you can go back to previous copies if you make a mistake. However, stored data is not necessarily safe data. It is still at risk of deletion, either accidentally or through internal/external threats such as viruses, spyware or ransomware. This is why as well as (primary) storage, you should also have a backup (secondary or tertiary) system in place.
When backing up your files, all of your digital data, the operating system, configuration files and personal preference are all duplicated at set time intervals to another storage place. These set intervals are usually once a day. Therefore, should your current data get compromised, you will have backed up versions in a secondary place.
You can take this even further and do what’s called ‘replication’. This is essentially like a backup, but it shortens the time between backup intervals to near real-time. Both are integral in keeping your data secure in the event of a disaster.
Everyone loves a plan. Your disaster recovery plan should detail what steps are needed to restore your systems from backup.
It’s hard to think clearly in a time of crisis. Preparing it now can save a lot of time and pain later.
Your disaster recovery plan will clearly set out Recovery Point Objectives (RPO’s) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO’s). This will include details about what order data and functionality will be restored and how much time it will take.
Business continuity works in conjunction with backup and the disaster recovery plan. These will detail alternative methods of functionality, while your main systems are recovered and restored from backups.
This ensures your business continues to run smoothly during a crisis.
If you need any advice on storage, backup, disaster recovery or business continuity, get in contact, we’d be happy to help.
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