Backup and recovery
A backup nobody has restored is a hypothesis
Included on every machine we cover on Full Suite, and added per machine on the other plans. Either way, each one gets a real test restore every month.
A reply from Keaton or Kurt, usually the same working day.
Almost every business we assess has backups. A good number of them have backups that would not have worked. The job had been failing since a Windows update in the spring, or it was running perfectly on a machine that stopped being the important one two years ago, or it was backing up the files and not the database the files are useless without.
None of that shows up on a dashboard saying the backup ran. It only shows up when somebody tries to put the data back, and the worst possible moment to find out is the morning you need it.
So we restore them, monthly, and tell you either way
Watching a backup complete tells you a job finished. It tells you nothing about whether the result can be turned back into a working business. The only test that means anything is taking the backup and restoring it, and that's what happens every month on every machine we back up.
You get the result whichever way it goes. A month where the restore failed is more useful than a month where it worked, because it's a problem found on an ordinary Tuesday instead of during an emergency. Backup is one product, so the monitoring, the monthly test and file recovery come with it rather than as extras. Full Suite includes it on every machine we cover. On Essential and Secure it's added per machine, for the ones that need it.
What's covered
- Backups watched around the clock, with failures fixed rather than logged
- A real test restore every month on every machine we back up
- The result reported to you whether it passed or failed
- Files recovered whenever you ask
- Cloud backup through N-able Cove, included on Full Suite
- Servers, workstations and the databases behind your line-of-business software
- Recovery planning: what comes back first, and how long it takes
Backup is included on every covered machine on Full Suite. On Essential and Secure it's a per-machine add-on, listed on your service schedule. A machine that isn't listed isn't backed up, and gets none of the monitoring or testing either.
Compare the three plans, or read what the monthly fee covers.
Questions we get asked
- Which machines get backed up?
- On Full Suite, every machine we cover. On the other plans you choose, and we'll tell you what we'd pick, which is usually the server running the software the business can't operate without. Either way the list is written on your service schedule, so nobody has to guess.
- How long would it take to get us running again?
- It depends on what failed and how much data there is, which is exactly why it's worth establishing before anything goes wrong rather than during. The assessment covers it, and the answer gets written down.
- Does this protect us from ransomware?
- It's the part that means ransomware doesn't end the business. Protection and patching are what stop it arriving. A tested restore is what means you don't have to consider paying.
- We already back up to a hard drive in the office. Is that enough?
- It's better than nothing and it shares a building with the thing it's protecting you from. Fire, theft and ransomware all tend to take the backup drive along with the server. An off-site copy is what covers that.
Related
When did anyone last restore your backup?
If the honest answer is never, that's worth fixing before the day you need it. Tell us what you back up today and we'll tell you what we'd test.