Every organization relies on data that must be protected and backed up in a reliable and secure way by authorized personnel. While the content or criticality of the data may vary, the processes behind a successful backup strategy are universal.

This checklist, written by Scott Matteson for TechRepublic Premium, will help you establish a standard framework for backing up files that you can count on in a crisis.

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  5. DETERMINE THE TYPE OF BACKUPS

  Generally, the three most common types of backups are full, incremental, and differential. Full backups mean just that — the entire data set is backed up at once. This can apply to a file share, an Exchange server, a database, or some other element of information.

  An incremental backup is a backup of only the data that has changed since the backup (whether full or incremental). It is not cumulative, so if you conduct a full backup on Saturday and an incremental backup on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, you would need to restore each backup if your system crashed on Wednesday. This makes incremental backups speedy and light on storage but more tedious to get a system fully functional again.

Boost your backup process with our eight-page PDF. This is available for download at just $19. Alternatively, enjoy complimentary access with a Premium annual subscription.

TIME SAVED: Crafting this content required 16 hours of dedicated writing, editing, research, and design.