The 3-2-1 Backup Rule

The 3-2-1 rule is a standard reference for data backup and disaster recovery, but what does this rule actually mean? Listed below is an explanation for perhaps the most imperative concept to prolonging the life of your business, even in the face of difficult and trying circumstances.

Explaining The 3-2-1 Rule

In essence, the 3-2-1 rule references your backups, which are pivotal in your business continuity plan. It can be explained like this:

• You should always maintain at least three copies of your data.
• This data should be saved in at least two separate places.
• One of these copies should be saved offsite, ideally in the cloud.

It’s really quite simple, all things considered.

Why the 3-2-1 Rule is So Critical

The major benefit businesses get from the 3-2-1 rule is that it ensures that data stays as safe as possible, even under the worst possible conditions.

Maintaining Multiple Copies Ensures You Have Something to Work With

The more copies of your data that are available, the better the odds of restoring your business’ infrastructure in the case of an incident. If you only have one copy and something bad happens to it, you’re out of luck. This is much less likely to happen when you have multiple copies of your data, i.e. backups of your backups. Really, you cannot go wrong with storing too many backups, provided they are properly secured.

Keeping Your Backups in Different Places Keeps Them Safe

If you keep all of your frozen foods in the same freezer, what happens when that freezer suddenly stops working? You’re out of luck, and you’ll wish you had a spare in your basement. The same can be said for your backups. If you store them all on the same server, that server could fail or get hacked, rendering all of your backups useless and unobtainable. Store your backups in different physical locations and protect them all from potential disasters.

Store Your Backups Off-Site To Keep Them Safe

If something happens to your office and it is completely destroyed in a disaster, any backups you have stored on-site will also be destroyed. To achieve redundancy, you’ll want to store your data backups in different off-site locations, including the cloud, so that it’s all easily accessible when you need them most. Additionally, cloud providers will protect and secure their own backups of your backups, which can help to achieve the kind of redundancy you need, all while making sure that your backups are accessible. Hence, you keep downtime to a minimum.

Let’s Build a Backup and Disaster Recovery Strategy Together

Macro Systems can help your business implement the ideal BDR platform. To learn more, call us today at 703-359-9211.