Backup routines are the lifeblood of information technology. Protecting an organization’s data is a computer professional’s highest priority. Whether it’s hackers, disgruntled or confused users, a fire or flood, hardware failure, or just thunderstorms threatening the information you’re charged with protecting, a solid backup routine is at least a best practice if not a best defense against potential data loss.

Review and troubleshoot problematic backups using this checklist created by Erik Eckel for TechRepublic Premium.

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BACKUP STRATEGY

Many backup issues can be tied directly to the strategy in place. Smaller organizations may find creating daily normal backups works well, while midsize organizations may manage too much data to reasonably create complete backups daily. For midsize companies, a more complex series of differential/incremental backups likely fits the bill. Still larger organizations require more intricate near-line or online backups beyond the scope of this checklist.

Start your troubleshooting by ensuring you’ve selected the proper backup type:

Normal (also known as full) backups are the easiest to schedule and recover. Normal backups back up all the files and folders you specify and mark each item (by flipping the archive bit) as backed up. To recover from a disaster, you simply restore the normal backup file. There’s a price to be paid for the simplicity, however: time. Normal backups take the most time to complete.

Copy backups make a copy of all the files and folders you specify. However, copy backups do not mark files and folders as being backed up. Copy backups are typically used to manually create a backup in between normal and incremental routines (without impacting the normal or incremental backup cycles).

Boost your backup routines with our in-depth eight-page PDF. This is available for download at just $9. Alternatively, enjoy complimentary access with a Premium annual subscription.

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