We can’t think of a person not irritated when they can’t access data on their devices.

Be it individuals or organizations, we all live in an age where data is easily kept on smartphones, laptops, PCs, tablets, and other data carriers. However, data can just as easily be lost even if we’re careful about protecting it.

Hardware malfunction, malware attacks, and natural disasters can deny businesses access to their on-site data. In a state of disarray, data backup and data recovery can be the difference between going on strong or going out of business.

“Data backup” and “data recovery” aim to keep sensitive data in a separate location and salvage it in a compromised or failed system. Although it sounds straightforward, such a task is not always an effortless one.

Luckily, nowadays, companies can choose from a myriad of potential data recovery solutions. Nonetheless, the variety of choices can be confusing, leading to poor or sub-optimal data recovery actions.

To help you avoid compromising your data, here’s a list of the most common data recovery mistakes we’ve stumbled upon.

Common Data Recovery Mistakes

There’s a good probability your company will one day need to undergo a data recovery process. Whether the issue is a product of a human error, natural disaster, or a cyber-attack, it’s best to be prepared.

Let’s explore some of the things organizations should avoid to safely back up and restore data.

Storing Backed Up Data On-Site

Keeping all of your data backups on-site means easier recovery if your central server gets compromised. However, on-site backups are likely to be exposed to the same issues as your primary system.

In the event of a disaster, recovery speed won’t matter if you can’t access your backups.

To make sure your data is available for recovery at all times, it’s best to keep off-site backups at a secure location outside of your main offices. Additionally, make sure to physically secure backups at your off-site facility. You can also monitor backup access to deny the possibility of an employee error rendering them useless.

After all, the key to having a reliable data backup is knowing it is always at your disposal for successful data recovery.

Relying on Bad Data Recovery Software

Modern tech growth and evolution relate to a universe of data recovery solutions. While it’s incredible to have a solution for every single recovery detail, it’s as easy to place your trust into sub-optimal software.

Almost every product names itself as the “#1 Solution”, but only a few brands make it to the actual top regarding performance and efficiency.

An all-around data backup and recovery software should allow physical and cloud backups on secured servers. Besides, you should be able to monitor, test, and update your backups at will. Moreover, all backups should benefit from high-end encryption and antimalware protection.

Not Trusting the Cloud (or Going Full-On for It)

Cloud backups sound too “new and fancy” for some organizations, whereas others welcome them with open hands and forget about physical storage.

However, this translates to one of the most infuriating data recovery mistakes to us. Cloud Vs. Physical backup shouldn’t be about choosing one or the other. Both have benefits, and both work best if used together.

Physical, offline backups enable quicker recovery in most cases but are vulnerable to more risks. Cloud backups can be accessed from anywhere at any time but can still fall victim to cybercriminals.

To ensure you have at least one operational backup to recover data from, we suggest using both physical and cloud backups for your essential data.

Not Testing Your Backups

You can schedule regular backups to both physical and cloud storage. You can educate your team and IT specialists on what to do in the event of downtime. However, data backups can be compromised in various ways, and you need to be on top of that.

Knowing your data backups’ condition is vital should you need to initiate data recovery.

Testing your data’s entirety and storages health helps your peace of mind that at least one instance of your backed-up data is always at your disposal.

Believing RAID Is Enough to Keep Data Available

A redundant array of independent disks (RAID) is useful when distributing data across a set of disks to protect the stored files against any individual disk’s potential failure.

However, RAID can only offset the failure of a single disk drive at a time. If a second failure occurs before you fix the initial one, you can lose your data for good.

Keep in mind, RAID systems are fault-tolerant, not fault-proof. Constantly monitor the ones at your disposal and aim to resolve every issue before it’s too late.