When Growing, Details Matter – Staying On Top Of Data Backups and Recovery Plans
As most businesses grow, they start to worry about pieces of their business that are not core components of their business which could be human resources, technology, or even data backup and recovery as examples. We wanted to share something that is more common than most would think, we will use a recent new customer of Secure Packet that allowed us to write this blog, as long as we didn’t use their company name, as an example. This customer is in Orlando, Florida and is a doctor’s office that has been in business for over 20 years. As the owner and primary doctor who runs the practice is a medical doctor through and through the need to learn more about how IT can help has always been at the forefront of providing his medical services. He likes to leverage new technology after it has been proven for a few years, but only has enough time to learn the surface of the new technology so he admits that he is at the mercy of his vendors when it comes to selecting the right technology to help improve his business and the service he provides to his customers.
This doctor has started to move to cloud services and has run into downtime issues and potential data loss scares due to his previous IT Managed Service Provider (MSP) failing to properly configure his backup solution while also not fully enacting a proper backup and disaster plan. This has led him and his office manager to look for a data backup and recovery solution in Orlando, FL. When this client came to Secure Packet their stress levels surrounding IT were at an all-time high and they were simply looking for a solution to their data backup and recovery problems. Their current server in their office was running fine, however, when they tried to move some file sharing services out of the office there were hiccups along the way which had some files deleted. This is where the failures in backups were exposed and started their search for a data backup and recovery solution right for them. The customer was looking for an IT consultant in Orlando, FL and found Secure Packet.
Reviewing Backup And Disaster Recovery Plans
This is where they were surprised at Secure Packet’s approach of requesting their current disaster recovery and business continuity plans so they could be reviewed for best practices. Their current MSP doesn’t have a formal DR or BC plan for their environment nor have they ever discussed different risk factors that the doctor’s office could face. Let alone how could the MSP and the doctor’s office overcome those risks if they come true and the DR plan has to be enacted? The doctor realized they would be in a world of hurt due to supply chain shortages currently.
Secure Packet, the doctor, and the office manager then proceeded to sit down to go over needs, wants, and goals since those will be different for each and every business even if you are comparing two doctors’ offices in the same city. No two businesses or decision makers will look at the risks to a business the same way and that means the budget will be used in different areas for their IT needs.
This doctor’s office was very concerned about losing data and they stated they want to be sure they would never lose their HIPAA patient files nor their internal files, like billing and HR. Since this new client has already invested in newer computer systems, kept up on their operating systems, licensing, and the usual then developing and enacting the new data backup and recovery plan for their new outlines needs was quite simple from an overall IT point of view.
After reviewing all needs, wants, and goals for the doctor, Secure Packet recommended implementing the 3-2-1 Backup Rule, you can read more about it here. Veeam Backup and Replication was the choice for the software due to the flexibility and the offsite backup location request. There was a mix of Windows Servers and a single Linux server running an internal intranet site that was developed for the doctor by a former MSP. Since the doctor has his nurses and front office store all files on the file store, he opted not to back up all the laptops or tablets in the office except for his since he keeps files he wants to be backed up on his laptop in his office.
Deploying The Right Size Solution
For hardware, their current data backup server was also the main server and it was running low on space so a NAS device was recommended for the in-office onsite backup storage. This was the cheaper solution compared to a full separate server and the doctor, with his technology interest in hand, wanted to have a NAS so he could potentially move his file share to it as well. The doctor accepted that he wouldn’t be able to restore his system or files until a new server was in place or the old server was placed back in service, but budgetary concerns were still in place due to COVID causing financial troubles for his practice. The plan is to move Veeam services to a separate smaller server in the coming year to get his practice up to the level of DR and BC he agrees he needs when reviewing the business’s risk factors. In the meantime, Veeam Cloud Connect could be used in an emergency to restore to a Cloud Provider if replacement hardware wasn’t available.
After explaining best practices around data backup and recovery in Orlando, especially when flooding or hurricanes are concerned, the decision was an easier one for offsite backups to be part of their DR plan. Utilizing Veeam, Secure Packet implements the Veeam Cloud Connect to an offsite location. Dallas, Texas was chosen as the secondary offsite backup location for their data due to geographic separation, low chance of weather-related disasters, and low enough latency due to the distance.
So after everything was set up and running, the doctor couldn’t happy and the office manager is receiving their daily Veeam email showing that their backups are actually completed successfully. The risk and worrying about their data integrity are now a thing of the past and the doctor can go back to focusing on providing medical services to their patients.
Moving Forward In Stages
Once their IT budget returns to a normal state, the game plan is to perform a full IT strategy review to ensure there are no weak spots and then order those shortcomings in order of highest priority security and business-wise. As their business grows they understand that even their current DR plan won’t stay sufficient forever so it is an ever-evolving process that should be reviewed at least once a year and preferred twice a year. However, for now, the doctor and office manager are happy with their data backup and recovery in Orlando and continue to focus on what makes them money and not just what could lose them money.
If you need some help to ensure that your backup plans are meeting your needs, reach out to Secure Packet today. Backups and Disaster Recovery are key consulting areas for Secure Packet. We are able to help the smaller 1-5 employee businesses all the way up to the 1,000+ employee enterprises to ensure all restore point objectives and restore time objectives will be met if you ever have to utilize your backups. Contact Secure Packet today!