Backups are boring, right up until the day you need them. That is when it turns out whether you thought about them or not. And the most common misconception is that storage and backup are the same thing.
Below we set out the difference briefly, explain the 3-2-1 rule in plain language, and tell you what we already arrange for you as standard.
Storage is not the same as a backup
Storage makes sure your data is available. A backup makes sure your data is recoverable. That sounds similar, but it protects against completely different things.
Take RAID, which our servers run on. If a disk fails, everything simply keeps running. Excellent technology, but RAID does not protect you against:
- One wrong click. Deleted files are neatly deleted from all disks at once.
- Ransomware. Encrypted files are neatly stored as encrypted files.
- A failed update or a bug in your own software, quietly corrupting your database bit by bit.
In short: availability is not the same as safety. You need both.
The 3-2-1 rule, in a nutshell
The rule of thumb almost every backup strategy comes down to:
- 3 copies of your data, including the version you work with.
- 2 different types of storage, so one kind of failure does not hit everything at once.
- 1 copy in another location, separate from where your data normally lives.
That last one is the most important and the most often skipped. A backup that sits on the same machine as the original goes down with that machine.
What we already do for you
You do not have to start from scratch here, because backups are included with our main services:
- [VPS](https://etheron.nl/servers/vps): an automatic backup every day, with 14 days of history. So you can go back to a moment last week, not just to yesterday.
- [Webhosting](https://etheron.nl/website/webhosting): around midnight a full backup of your package is created, with 7 days of history. You can restore it yourself at any time through DirectAdmin.
- [Game hosting](https://etheron.nl/game/minecraft): your game server is backed up automatically too, so a bad plugin or a wrecked world is not a disaster.
Those 14 days of history on a VPS matter more than they seem. Problems are not always noticed straight away: a corrupted database or a compromised site is sometimes only discovered days later, and then you want to reach further back than a single night.
What you can add yourself
Our backups cover the basics. If your data falls into the "my business cannot function without this" category, it is wise to take one more step:
- Keep your own copy off site. Your own backup server in our datacenter is a practical way to do that; we wrote about it in colocation in Amsterdam.
- Test your restore. A backup that has never been restored is an assumption. Once a year, check that you can actually rebuild a working environment from it.
- Look at what is not included. Data held at external services, DNS settings and configuration outside your server often fall outside the backup. Record those separately.
- Encrypt anything sensitive. Certainly when a copy lives in another location.
It is not about making backups, it is about restoring them
A backup strategy sounds like something for large companies, but in practice it comes down to three questions: where is my second copy, how far back in time can I go, and have I ever tested that restoring works?
Want to know what is arranged as standard in your situation, or how to build on it? Ask your question through our Discord or a ticket. We are happy to help!