Backups and redundancy schemes are both data protection methods, but they are not interchangeable.
Backup redundancy refers to the practice of having multiple copies of data stored in different locations to protect against data loss. The idea behind backup redundancy is that if one copy of the data becomes unavailable, for example due to hardware failure or a cyber attack, another copy can be used to restore the data.
There are several types of backup redundancy, including:
1. Local backup redundancy: This involves creating multiple copies of data on different devices in the same location, such as on different hard drives in the same computer.
2. Remote backup redundancy: This involves creating copies of data in different physical locations, such as on an external hard drive at home and a cloud-based storage service.
3. Cloud backup redundancy: This involves storing data in multiple cloud-based storage services, so that if one service becomes unavailable, another copy of the data can be retrieved.
4. Mirroring: This involves real-time replication of data between two or more storage devices, so that if one device fails, the other device can take over immediately without any data loss.
By having multiple copies of data in different locations, backup redundancy can help to ensure that important data is protected and can be quickly restored in case of an unexpected event. This is especially important for critical systems, such as servers or financial data, that need to be available at all times.
3-2-1 Backup Strategy
We believe all clients should have minimum a 3-2-1 backup strategy.
This means having at least three total copies of your data, two of which
are local but on different mediums, and at least one copy off-site.
We’ll use “rusty.jpg” as an example for this scenario. Rusty.jpg lives on
my desktop computer; it was a picture that I took of my dog in 2018.
That’s one copy of the data. I also have an external USB hard drive that
I use for backing up my computer. As part of its backup process, that external hard drive will back up pictures folder with rusty .jpg. That’s a second copy, on a different device or medium. In addition to that external hard drive, I also have an online backup. The online backup can continuously scan or be scheduled on my computer and uploads my data off-site to a remote server. Rusty.jpg is included in this upload, and that becomes the third copy of your data. If your computer gets infected with ransomware virus, your computer disk drive and USB drive
will be encrypted as well. The remote online backup will not be affected.
Even if a hacker gets access to your computer, he will not be able to destroy
your online backup.