Data Recovery vs. Data Backup: What's the Difference?
Data Recovery vs. Data Backup: What's the Difference?
For businesses and individuals who rely heavily on technology, the importance of protecting your precious data cannot be overstated. In today's world, losing valuable data due to a system error or cyber-attack can be disastrous, leading to lost revenue, legally risky situations, and even the shutdown of a business. The words "backup" and "recovery" are often used interchangeably even though they are not the same. In this blog post, we'll go into detail about what sets data recovery and data backup apart and why knowing the difference between the two is crucial.
Data Backup:
Data backup, as the name implies, refers to creating a copy of your data. The backup consists of duplicating important files, folders, databases, and system settings on an external storage unit, such as a hard disk, a solid-state drive, or a cloud-based service. Backups should be done frequently, ideally daily, or weekly, depending on your data volume and how mission-critical the data is. In case of accidental deletions, equipment failure, or cyber-attacks, you can simply restore your data from the backup copy, minimising downtime and productivity loss. Data backups are critical should your IT infrastructure suffer an interruption, but backups will not assist in recovering data that's been modified or lost.
Data Recovery:
Data recovery, on the other hand, refers to an attempt to restore or recover data from a failed, corrupted, or damaged storage medium (such as a hard drive, RAID array or flash drive). Data recovery is a complex process that requires specialised tools, education, training, experience, and knowledge. Typically, data recovery comes into play if backups fail or are non-existent, meaning that the only option is to recover data from the original source. Data recovery professionals will assess the storage medium's damage and employ tools and techniques to retrieve as much data as possible, which could include dismantling the hard drive, replacing the damaged components, and cloning the data to another device. While data backups offer some protection, you should also hire a recovery specialist just in case disaster strikes down the road. Fields Data Recovery offer such services and are undertaken by expert technicians who specialise in data recovery across a plethora of storage devices.
Data Backup and Recovery Differences:
To summarise, the main difference between data backup and data recovery can be described as follows:
- Data backup is the process of creating a second copy of your data, stored elsewhere, in case the original data is compromised, deleted, or inaccessible.
- Data recovery is the process of retrieving lost data from a failed or malfunctioning storage device to replace or supplement unsaved data.
Data backup and recovery are not mutually exclusive. Ideally, implementing both strategies is the optimal way to ensure your data stays safe and organised. While backups can prevent or minimise data damages, data recovery can recover the lost or missing data when something goes wrong. Working with a professional who understands the difference and aligns your data protection strategy to your business priorities is crucial in guaranteeing your business can safely navigate disruptions.
Conclusion:
Understanding the difference between data backup and data recovery is a fundamental part of keeping your data safe and well-organised. Both are critical for keeping your business going in the event of a cyber-attack or disaster, but they achieve different goals. A solid backup and disaster recovery strategy involves both, where regular backups are used to prevent data loss, and data recovery can access the original storage device's data if the backup is inaccessible. These are some of the things you can do to protect your data recovery and backup needs. At the end of the day, working with data experts is the optimal solution to ensure your data protection and continuity plan align with your unique business priorities.
Don’t panic if your storage device fails and your precious data and memories are suddenly inaccessible. Contact Fields Data Recovery at 0800 083 7891.