Why backups matters

Ransomware: The best way to recover from a ransomware attack is to have a reliable backup. If we can restore our data from a backup, we don’t need to pay the ransom. Without a backup, you will need to survive without your data, or you will need to pay the bad guys to get the data back. And according to a Ransomware Trends report by Veeam (a backup solutions provider), there’s a good chance that paying the ransom may not enable you to recover your data anyway.

Data wiper: But ransomware is not the worst type of attack on your data. Data Wiper attacks are far more destructive. They are designed to wipe the data, so there is no way to get the data back. No matter how big a cheque you are prepared to write. Without a backup, the data is gone.

Backup Types

There are three types of backup:

  1. Full backup: The backup includes a copy of all your files.
  2. Differential backup: The backup only includes a copy of all files that have been edited or added since the last full backup ran.
  3. Incremental backup: The backup only includes a copy of all files that have been edited or added since the last incremental backup ran.

A great visual explanation is provided at https://spanning.com/blog/types-of-backup-understanding-full-differential-incremental-backup/.

A backup strategy includes a decision about the types of backups that you will use.

The factors involved in choosing your backup type(s)

The backup type(s) used in your backup strategy may depend on:

  1. How much data you have
    If you have lots of data, factors 2 and 3 may mean a full backup every time is not feasible.
  2. How much backup space you want to pay for
    A full backup of all your data will consume a lot more space than the other options. An incremental backup will consume the least amount of space.
  3. How much time is available to run the backup
    A full backup of all your data will take far longer than the other options. An incremental backup will be quickest.
  4. How small you are / how busy your IT provider is
    It may also depend on the knowledge or emotional state of the IT person who set up the system. If they were under pressure to just get something in place, it may be unclear which option they went with.

The best types

  1. In an ideal world, full backups are the simplest and most reliable backup types. Every backup has every file. No backup relies on any previous backups. However, full backups take time and cost money to retain.
  2. If full backups are too costly or time-consuming for you, you could run full backups on a weekly or monthly basis, and differential backups in between.
    1. It will reduce time and space
    2. BUT a differential backup will only contain files that were edited or added since the last full backup.
    3. SO if that last full backup is corrupted, a differential backup will only have files that have been edited or added since that full backup took place. If you don’t have an older full backup that you can restore from, all of your older files will be missing from your backups.
  3. If option 2 still takes too long or consumes too much space, you could consider ull backups on a weekly or monthly basis, and incremental backups in between.
    1. It will significantly reduce time and space
    2. BUT an incremental backup will only contain files that were edited or added since the last incremental backup.
    3. SO if the last full backup is corrupted, your incremental backups will only have files that have been edited or added since that full backup took place. If you don’t have an older full backup that you can restore from, all of your older files will be missing from your backups.
    4. AND if an incremental backup is corrupted, any files edited or added since the full or incremental backup prior to this corrupted one will be missing from your backups.