The Hex Files
Backup and recovery
Getting your data back after a mistake, a failure or an attack.
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Backup and recovery
Getting your data back after a mistake, a failure or an attack.
- Explainer
Is your Microsoft 365 backed up?
Microsoft keeps the service running. Getting deleted or encrypted mail and files back is up to you.
1 min readRead - Explainer
The 3-2-1 backup rule, in plain English
Three copies of your data, on two kinds of storage, with one somewhere else. A simple rule that still works.
1 min readRead - Explainer
Why OneDrive sync isn't a backup
Sync keeps files the same everywhere, including when they are deleted or encrypted. A backup keeps older versions you can go back to.
1 min readRead - Explainer
A backup you haven't restored is only a hope
Backups fail quietly. The only way to know yours work is to restore from them on a schedule.
1 min readRead - Explainer
How much can you afford to lose, and for how long?
Two questions shape every backup plan: how much recent work can you lose, and how long can you be down? IT people call them RPO and RTO.
1 min readRead - Explainer
Backups attackers can't reach
Ransomware groups hunt for backups first. Copies that cannot be changed or deleted, even by an administrator, are what make recovery possible.
1 min readRead - What to do if
What to do if you see a ransom note
Disconnect, don't turn things off, and call for help. The first hour shapes how much you can recover.
1 min readRead - What to do if
What to do if you deleted an important file
Most deleted files can be recovered. Check the recycle bins first, then ask IT before anything gets overwritten.
1 min readRead - Explainer
How far back should your backups go?
Some problems are noticed the next day. Others take months. Retention decides whether the right version still exists when you look.
1 min readRead - Checklist
Checklist: what your backup should include
Many businesses back up the server and stop there. Important data is often somewhere else.
1 min readRead - Explainer
External hard drives wear out
An external drive in a drawer feels like a safe backup. Drives fail, get lost and quietly stop working, often without warning.
1 min readRead - Checklist
Is your phone backed up?
Phones hold photos, messages, contacts and the apps that sign you in. Losing one without a backup can mean losing all of it.
1 min readRead - Checklist
Keep an emergency sheet you can reach when everything is down
When email, phones or the network fail, the information you need to fix them is often stored on the systems that just failed.
1 min readRead - What to do if
What to do if you cannot get into the office
A fire, flood, power outage or building closure can shut the office without warning. Here is what to think about first, and what to plan now.
1 min readRead - Explainer
File backups and full system backups: what is the difference?
A file backup saves your documents. An image backup saves the whole computer or server, so it can be rebuilt quickly. Most businesses need both.
1 min readRead - Checklist
Is your business software backed up?
Accounting, practice management and design software often keep data in places a normal backup misses. Check before you need it.
1 min readRead - Explainer
What a recovery plan should cover
A recovery plan says what comes back first, how quickly, from where and who does it. Without one, every outage starts with guesswork.
1 min readRead - Explainer
Battery backups: why servers and network gear need one
A UPS keeps equipment running through short power cuts and shuts it down safely during long ones. It protects data as well as hardware.
1 min readRead - What to do if
Our server has stopped working
When the server goes down, the first hour sets the tone. Here is what to do, and what not to do, while help is on the way.
1 min readRead - Explainer
Laptops need backing up too
If people save to the desktop or a local folder, their laptop may hold work that exists nowhere else.
1 min readRead - Explainer
What cloud failover means
Cloud failover lets a backup copy of your server run in a data center while the real one is fixed or replaced.
1 min readRead
Have a question we haven't covered?
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