Backing Up Data: When was the last time you did a test restore?
Posted: February 24, 2011 Filed under: backing up data, backup discs and tapes, test restore Leave a comment »
Backing up your data is a critical step to ensuring you have a plan in case a disaster strikes. Whether your data goes missing, corrupt, or destroyed, having a copy of it helps prevent a disruptive issue from becoming a major disaster.
Backing Up the Data is Only One Step of Preventive Maintenance
There is no use to a backup if you can’t restore the data. Someone could spend years backing up every day, but over time tapes can become worn, drives can develop disk errors and bad sectors, and data can be moved around and be incomplete. By doing a test restore of your data you are able to significantly increase the chances of learning about these problems before it’s too late.
Setting Up a Job to Restore the Data
When performing a test restore you can review what files and folders are being backed up, and you may find that while your “Data” and “Accounting” folders are being backed up, a “Marketing” folder that was moved, and a “Media” folder that was added since the backup was originally setup are not included in the backup. If you attempt to restore the data, but find a tape is having read/write errors, or bad sectors on the disk are preventing any data from being copied, you are able to address these errors, and either repair or replace the device at fault.
While it is important to backup regularly, doing the occasional test restore is equally important. It allows you to do a controlled run through a disaster scenario, ensuring that the backup system is working as intended and that if something inconvenient does happen to your data that you are able to recover from it.
To get help on performing a test restore for your important backup data, contact us today!