3-2-1 - Why this backup strategy is essential for your business
In eigener Sache
The golden rule of any data protection and backup strategy is considered to be the core of the 3-2-1 principle. An external backup, two media and three data copies are elementary components of solid backup concepts. If important data is lost in an extreme case, companies face collapse. Vast amounts of information are destroyed forever, the damage is enormous. Image loss, customer losses or entire livelihoods are at stake. Around 11 billion data records were lost worldwide in 2020, about 133 percent more than in the same period last year. The causes range from hardware or software errors to data protection breaches to human negligence. Some cases are the result of external cyberattacks or deliberate insider attacks. According to the industry association, German companies are also strongly affected by this, with as many as one in two companies recording data losses in recent years.
Each lost data record currently costs around 160 euros. A tidy sum that companies could easily save with the right 3-2-1 backup strategy.
This is what lies behind the 3-2-1 backup rule
- Data copies are available in triplicate. Two in the form of backups and one in the live stream.
- Backup protection with two different technologies such as via an external hard drive, storage, removable storage drive or cloud.
- One-time offsite copy by backing up data to clouds or encrypted on separate hard drives to ensure that no disaster can affect the files.
In the classic 3-2-1 scenario, critical data is stored by the backup software as a copy on another storage medium. While the rule has been around since the earliest concepts of data backup and is considered best practice, extensive data makes the 3-2-1 equation more complicated. Veeam takes care of the fast and reliable backup of data according to the latest cloud standards. According to current technological infrastructure, companies no longer store customer data in the secondary server architecture via Veeam® Cloud Connect, but backups are sent directly to the BaaS or DRaaS provider. The cost- and time-saving tool works without a console and always backs up data with full encryption.
The most common mistakes in backups:
- No failure plan
- Insufficient storage capacity
- Backup times are not adhered to
- No offsite backups
- no trial runs or test restores
- lack of rotation of the backup media
Backup strategy BaaS and DRaaS
The goals for a solution-oriented backup strategy are clear:
- comprehensive data management
- Optimisation of the data flow
- Accelerated recovery of systems in case of emergency
It is not possible without appropriate data protection measures. The business world demands comprehensive availability of company-relevant data and uninterrupted access. A kind of survival necessity has developed for businesses of all sizes. This is subject to certain requirements and legal regulations, the lack of which can have dramatic consequences. Thus, SMEs, corporations, start-ups and individual companies are challenged more than ever to limit the risks of data loss actions to a large extent or to prevent them altogether.
1. modern data backup processes
Moving to a hybrid cloud in a timely manner helps businesses protect their data optimally on the central Veeam platform. This guarantees companies uninterrupted business operations, regardless of where their data is stored. In addition to the hybrid cloud, multi-cloud solutions are also available with SaaS. Modern data protection takes care with at least three copies. Why is one backup not enough? Statistically, the probability of failure is one in ten thousand for original data stored on two different systems with identical properties. In the event of a disaster recovery, all data is available in the cloud via SaaS so that business operations can continue uninterrupted. With Backup-as-a-Service, data backups are carried out via private, public or hybrid cloud storage. Hacker attacks, disruptions or hardware failures are prevented. With Veeam® Cloud Data Management, the provider achieves a completely new level in modern data protection including data resilience and maximum flexibility in the individual functions.
BaaS requires a network with correspondingly high bandwidth. Veeam enables the extension of this backup service to full DRaaS (Disaster-Recovery-as-a-Service) for the complete recovery of IT services, data and entire IT systems in an emergency.
2. storage on at least two media
Depending on the required service level agreements, SLAs for short, such as the size of the storage space used or the frequency of data backup, BaaS and DRaaS offers specific quality criteria for standardised security comparison. In all service areas, data and storage are protected everywhere - in the cloud, with SaaS providers or in the physical infrastructure. For particularly ambitious DRaaS strategies, RPOs and RTOs approach zero even for critical assets. In the event of data loss, immediate recovery is guaranteed for all workloads.
For double protection, a combination of cloud and a NAS is used. The private cloud gives companies direct access to internal data, but backs it up over the network via a switch. Employees can also access their own storage externally via FTP or WebDAV access and with a corresponding app from a tablet or smartphone. NAS provides several network interfaces, is future-proof and always offers reliable protection.
With the replication and backup platform, users have access to state-of-the-art storage solutions that save any time-consuming management of a classic data backup. Companies can focus on core business and future projects without investing valuable human resources in data management.
3. external location for a backup copy
According to the 3-2-1 backup strategy, all company data is located at different sites and kept separately. In the worst case of a disaster, not all of it is lost forever. External backups are stored in the cloud, hybrid cloud, in storage or on removable media, depending on the individually defined concept.
Ensure that business-critical data remains well protected
In managed backup, supervised data protection and recovery is carried out on the basis of a first-class storage infrastructure. With Veeam Cloud Connect, the 3-2-1 rule is preceded by a number of considerations. For example, which systems should store what, and how often. How are offsite copies managed? Responsibilities and accountabilities are given a clear structure with Veeam. Of course, the number of copies to be created can be varied as desired in offsite locations and storage media used where backups are kept. Depending on data protection requirements and existing business-critical content, a 3-2-1 can also become a double backup with 6-4-2.
Why the 3-2-1 strategy is more than a trend
If you plan backups strategically, you are sure to avoid expensive data loss. The 3-2-1 backup formula provides the perfect basis for this. As an administrator or IT specialist in a company, the question of 100% data backup and permanent availability is omnipresent. If even one storage variant fails, this loss can cost companies a lot of money. Being able to restore data to the system as immediately as possible via a backup solution not only secures ongoing business operations, but also prevents costly downtimes. The concrete implementation to avoid this scenario is taken over by the "Managed Backup" service from Veeam.
Using the 3-2-1 backup rule, each company decides for itself which components are most affected by a breakdown and how damage from external storage can be avoided. Smart backup strategies take on a lot of responsibility in the Big Data age and ensure the continuation of smooth business processes. For SMEs, it is becoming increasingly difficult to actually identify business-critical data in order to then store and archive it in an intuitively findable way. Storage strategies according to the motto "less is more" follow the aspect of data sovereignty. By using Veeam Cloud Connect, many companies want to be sure that valuable information does not inadvertently fall into the hands of third parties. Storage solutions via the cloud are therefore very much in vogue.
Possible causes without the integration of Veeam SaaS in the cloud or hybrid cloud range from hardware damage and natural disasters to data that is deliberately deleted. Many available interfaces in the network are added as an additional danger. For example, hacker attacks identify email attachments, destroy entire data sets or siphon off valuable development data.
Which risks are considered particularly problematic on the way to the right 3-2-1 backup strategy depends on the thematic relevance of the company itself. For later successful solutions, it is essential to know where primary data is located and how access is regulated. In addition, SMEs decide individually how quickly primary data may not be available in order to carry out a restore.
The trend towards quick solutions in case of emergency is also an important component, but clearly depends on the available budget. A good compromise between financial resources and risk assessment allows for the most protection options on an economic basis.
Reduce storage consumption with 3-2-1 backup rule
Technically, pure VM replication on the Veeam platform is included in various storage solutions. Data is restored directly from the backup of the host, other alternatives offer additional storage media from, for example, other fire compartments for replication. In view of modern processor technology, the number of virtual storage locations and digital machines is increasing significantly. Thus, there are no longer any physical limits to the 3-2-1 backup principle.
This diversity reduces the need for real storage centres and offloads much of the existing data to virtual tiers. Modern data protection solutions from Veeam meet this requirement to secure content in any location. Whether in a digital, physical or cloud environment. Only the rapid deployment of new backup tasks can cope with the increasing complexity of Big Data. However, backup and recovery must remain easy to implement for administrators in every process and function via intuitive interfaces.
Veeam offers this support
The cloud alone is no longer enough to adequately protect enterprise data processing pressures. The Veeam platform offers a cloud-native infrastructure so that strategic problems can be solved quickly. Intended as an implementation tool, it masters complex challenges and copes with fundamental rethinking in user industries. In addition to a completely new IT architecture method for monitoring ongoing operations, Veeam uses new technologies to guarantee the recovery of all workloads in an uncomplicated and flexible way. With Veeam "Backup & Replication", the company offers a reliable solution for backing up virtual, cloud-based, physical and SaaS workloads. Companies benefit from instant recovery and policy-driven backup data lifecycles, plus protection against ransomware.
If you are interested in a BaaS or DRaaS solution from Veeam, please feel free to contact us via phone, email or our contact form.
Marcel Zimmer is the Technical Managing Director of EnBITCon. During his time in the German Armed Forces, the trained IT developer was able to gain numerous project experiences. His interest in IT security was significantly awakened by his service in command support. Even after his service, he is an active reservist in the Bundeswehr.
His first firewall was a Sophos UTM 120, which he had to set up for a customer project. Since then, his interest in IT security has grown steadily. In the course of time, various security and infrastructure topics have come into his focus. His most interesting projects included, for example, WLAN coverage in an explosion-proof area, as well as a multi-site WLAN solution for a large