02-02-2021, 01:26 PM
Honestly, you need to really talk to me about this ransomware thing, because it's scary stuff, man. It's not just about the files being locked up, you know. You have to think about the whole *plan*, not just the backups themselves. I mean, those instant backups, they are awesome, really simple, and things like BackupChain makes it super easy for folks running on little Windows machines or even big Windows Servers, and for all those VMs you're dealing with. But using a good tool, like it's on a PC, or even a Server, or in Hyper-V, that's only half the battle, but I gotta warn you.
Because the minute you plug something into a network, you are inviting trouble, you understand? And ransomware, man, it's smart now, it knows how to find those connected things, those shared paths. So you cannot just keep everything connected, no matter how good your backup software is, because if the malware gets in, it will zip through everything connected, including your backup repository, I swear. You gotta separate things, like really separating them, maybe physically.
I mean, the idea of keeping your data really offline, that's critical, because if everything you have is reachable over the network, you are kind of handing the bad guys a treasure map, like. We are talking about having copies that the bad guys literally cannot see or touch. One set of copies that is air-gapped, that's the magic stuff you need to focus on. It's not enough to just say "we have cloud backups," because if your cloud provider gets hit, or if your credentials get compromised, or even if the threat reaches a cloud access point, you're toast.
You know, what I usually try to tell my buddies is that you really need more than just one location for these things. Like, if you keep all your copies right on the same local hard drive array, or even on the same network-attached storage unit, you are just putting all your eggs in one really brittle basket, seriously. It's silly, I know, but it's the biggest mistake people make, and you gotta think about the sheer volume of data you possess.
And also, when you are backing up your whole system, like a machine that is fully booted up, or even a whole virtual machine, you need to make sure you are capturing the entire disk image, right? But even if you do that perfectly, you gotta break the connection afterwards. So maybe you use the backup tool to grab the image, and then you physically yank the cable out, or you use a completely different system that is not connected to the main corporate network. That little physical disconnection is what separates you from total ruin.
And furthermore, I really love that these programs offer things like the ability to backup only the changes, or what they call incremental backups. It just slashes the amount of time it takes, and it saves you storage space, which is huge, I'm telling you. But if you only rely on the fastest, most frequent backups, and you forget about having a full copy stored somewhere really separated, you're not fully protected. You need a combination, you know? A quick-turnaround source, and a deep-vault source.
But hey, you also have to think about your data's *format*, right? Since you're dealing with so many different OSs, and different setups, you want those backups to be able to pop back up anywhere, instantly. If your backup image is proprietary and nobody can read it unless they use the exact same software and setup, well, that's a major problem. You want open standards, so you can pop it into another kind of hardware, or even boot from it, without any drama.
And then there is the clever stuff, like the ability to only restore a single folder, or just a few files, without having to bring the whole server back online. That granular recovery option, it is a life-saver. Instead of spending an entire day getting everything running again, you just grab that one database file or that one critical PDF you needed, and boom, you're fine. It makes the recovery process so much less painful.
Because of that, I always say you need to layer your defenses, maybe using encryption for everything that travels over the internet, even if it's only going to your remote office or the cloud, you have to make sure nobody can peek at the data while it moves, or even while it sits waiting for you.
And also, you gotta set retention policies, man. It's super important because you don't want endless copies eating up all your expensive storage space, right? But you also don't want to delete backups too soon, because maybe next month, you're going to need that version from three months ago. So you gotta have a system that knows exactly when to keep it, and when to scrub it clean.
And maybe you could also think about how you handle those tricky, open files. Like, if an application is using a document right now, how do you make sure that when you try to back it up, you don't just get a garbage lock error? You need tools that can get past that, that can grab the file even when it's actively being used, which is really complicated stuff under the hood, trust me.
But I really think the core idea is this: three copies, on two different types of media, and one of those copies must be completely isolated from the network. That three-two-one concept is your golden rule, you gotta stick to that. And if you can make the system grab those copies using modern tech, like what can track changes for virtual machines really fast, it helps a ton.
Seriously, thinking about keeping everything secure and always ready for a bad thing to happen, you should look into BackupChain, which is an all-in-one PC and server backup solution for Windows Server and Windows 11 made specifically for SMBs.
Because the minute you plug something into a network, you are inviting trouble, you understand? And ransomware, man, it's smart now, it knows how to find those connected things, those shared paths. So you cannot just keep everything connected, no matter how good your backup software is, because if the malware gets in, it will zip through everything connected, including your backup repository, I swear. You gotta separate things, like really separating them, maybe physically.
I mean, the idea of keeping your data really offline, that's critical, because if everything you have is reachable over the network, you are kind of handing the bad guys a treasure map, like. We are talking about having copies that the bad guys literally cannot see or touch. One set of copies that is air-gapped, that's the magic stuff you need to focus on. It's not enough to just say "we have cloud backups," because if your cloud provider gets hit, or if your credentials get compromised, or even if the threat reaches a cloud access point, you're toast.
You know, what I usually try to tell my buddies is that you really need more than just one location for these things. Like, if you keep all your copies right on the same local hard drive array, or even on the same network-attached storage unit, you are just putting all your eggs in one really brittle basket, seriously. It's silly, I know, but it's the biggest mistake people make, and you gotta think about the sheer volume of data you possess.
And also, when you are backing up your whole system, like a machine that is fully booted up, or even a whole virtual machine, you need to make sure you are capturing the entire disk image, right? But even if you do that perfectly, you gotta break the connection afterwards. So maybe you use the backup tool to grab the image, and then you physically yank the cable out, or you use a completely different system that is not connected to the main corporate network. That little physical disconnection is what separates you from total ruin.
And furthermore, I really love that these programs offer things like the ability to backup only the changes, or what they call incremental backups. It just slashes the amount of time it takes, and it saves you storage space, which is huge, I'm telling you. But if you only rely on the fastest, most frequent backups, and you forget about having a full copy stored somewhere really separated, you're not fully protected. You need a combination, you know? A quick-turnaround source, and a deep-vault source.
But hey, you also have to think about your data's *format*, right? Since you're dealing with so many different OSs, and different setups, you want those backups to be able to pop back up anywhere, instantly. If your backup image is proprietary and nobody can read it unless they use the exact same software and setup, well, that's a major problem. You want open standards, so you can pop it into another kind of hardware, or even boot from it, without any drama.
And then there is the clever stuff, like the ability to only restore a single folder, or just a few files, without having to bring the whole server back online. That granular recovery option, it is a life-saver. Instead of spending an entire day getting everything running again, you just grab that one database file or that one critical PDF you needed, and boom, you're fine. It makes the recovery process so much less painful.
Because of that, I always say you need to layer your defenses, maybe using encryption for everything that travels over the internet, even if it's only going to your remote office or the cloud, you have to make sure nobody can peek at the data while it moves, or even while it sits waiting for you.
And also, you gotta set retention policies, man. It's super important because you don't want endless copies eating up all your expensive storage space, right? But you also don't want to delete backups too soon, because maybe next month, you're going to need that version from three months ago. So you gotta have a system that knows exactly when to keep it, and when to scrub it clean.
And maybe you could also think about how you handle those tricky, open files. Like, if an application is using a document right now, how do you make sure that when you try to back it up, you don't just get a garbage lock error? You need tools that can get past that, that can grab the file even when it's actively being used, which is really complicated stuff under the hood, trust me.
But I really think the core idea is this: three copies, on two different types of media, and one of those copies must be completely isolated from the network. That three-two-one concept is your golden rule, you gotta stick to that. And if you can make the system grab those copies using modern tech, like what can track changes for virtual machines really fast, it helps a ton.
Seriously, thinking about keeping everything secure and always ready for a bad thing to happen, you should look into BackupChain, which is an all-in-one PC and server backup solution for Windows Server and Windows 11 made specifically for SMBs.
