Tag: backup solutions

IT Support in LA: Backup Testing Is Integral to Your Business

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IT support LAIT support providers in LA commonly offer a number of pointers pertaining to backup strategy. One, you probably want to do more than just have your data backed up on one server elsewhere. You want to employ the 3-2-1 strategy; three backups on at least two separate kinds of media, one of which being located off-site.

Additionally, it makes sense to put a DRaaS solution in play. DRaaS is more than just rebooting data, it’s getting systems online sequentially in order to ensure functionality and data protection. It’s lining out effective recovery protocols for an unexpected emergency, and it’s also about testing what recovery options you have available.

What to Test

You’ve got to test multiple different areas of your recovery options in order to ensure comprehensive sustainability after an unexpected disaster knocks things offline. Three common areas that can help here include:

1. File Backup Spot Checks

IT support providers in LA advise businesses to check backup systems pertaining to means by which files are automatically safeguarded. As an illustrative example, consider the “time machine” function of Apple computers. This automatically backs up files and makes them available to users.

Go into time machine, look at an important file that was recently backed up. Pull it up from your backup drive and see if everything is there and functions as it should.

Do similar spot checks for other areas of automatic backup to ensure everything is being stored as it should. If files can’t be accessed after they’re backed up, they won’t be available in the aftermath of an emergency.

2. Effecting Full Restore as a Test

When you can, either during off-hours or a weekend, you need to test a full restore on specific areas of your network. Just like spot-checking file storing systems, rebooting a specific database can give you a clear idea of what does and doesn’t work.

3. Testing Full Database Recovery Protocols

Beyond spot-checking files and doing a full restore of certain systems, you need to, at intervals, test your total backup and recovery protocols. This should be done at periods in the year when business is at its slowest.

You’ll want to not just test recovery of data, but sequential reboot of networks. Sometimes systems are co-dependent, and this may not be noticeable until a backup must be orchestrated.

Reliable Data Protection

An IT support provider in LA like Advanced Networks can help you know which areas of backup should be tested. Full database recovery, a full restore of specific systems, and spot-checking files are integral steps. Different businesses will have different idiosyncratic needs, and the right MSP can help you comprehensively test for all of them.

Design Effective Business Continuity Solutions with IT Consulting in Los Angeles

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IT consulting firms in Los Angeles can help your business achieve proper business continuity key performance indicators (KPIs) through consultation and service provision. A combination of both these strategies will often produce the most secure solution.

Be Strategic

In order to determine what will best safeguard your business, you need to know where to center your business continuity framework. You might consider these KPIs:

  • Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
  • Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

RPO is the time it takes to get a specific application back online once a disaster has occurred. Meanwhile, RTO refers to the total time necessary for the reboot of your network after a substantial crash. You should run tests to see what the numbers are. How close are you to your objective in either scenario, and are you able to steadily get those numbers down? Figuring this out will help you know whether your business continuity solution has been adequately designed.

Once you’ve got your KPIs figured out, your next step is going to involve properly integrating your solution. Several steps this direction include:

  • Assigning RPOs and RTOs by application priority
  • Combining both on-premises and cloud solutions
  • Instituting optimization and monitoring support

Application Priority

IT consulting firms in Los Angeles can help you determine which applications should have priority over others in a total crash scenario. RTO is going to, in many cases, have to launch some applications sequentially. You’ve got to know what’s most important to reboot first, otherwise when the crash comes you’ll be operating out of a panic and could incidentally damage you network, which certainly is no good for business continuity. So, set up RPO and RTO not just to recover malfunctioning apps and networks, but to also do so in proper sequence.

Redundancies: Multiple Backup Solutions

You want as many sources of backed up data as you can acquire. Cloud backups that continuously backup your data are strategically valuable. Additionally, it makes sense to have a separate off-site backup solution in the event something happens to your cloud storage option, and an on-site backup in case either of the other two systems is compromised. You might even keep a hard drive updated with the most important data at regular intervals at your home property. The scope of your redundant backup solutions will depend on your budget. It’s generally a minority of businesses that can afford truly comprehensive redundancy solutions; so, perhaps you’ll start with on-site backups and a cloud solution. An MSP can help you determine what’s most affordable and realistic.

Optimization and Monitoring Support

Even if you can only acquire one backup solution, regular optimization of primary and secondary systems, as well as the most continuous monitoring you can source, can both prevent network crashes and facilitate more expedient, reliable business continuity.

Secure Business Continuity

IT consulting firms in Los Angeles through Advanced Networks can cost-effectively maintain the security of your network. Contact us to help advise you on the steps you should take in establishing a business continuity solution, as well as to attain consultation that can be a very real help when an unexpected disaster arises.

Does Your IT Services Provider in Los Angeles Take Security Seriously?

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Whether you are looking for a new IT services provider in Los Angeles or already have an existing relationship, security needs to be your number one priority.

Hiring an MSP to manage internal IT needs is a smart move for small to medium-sized businesses. It gives them access to expert resources without the overhead cost of an internal full-size IT department. However, problems arise when an SMB fails to ensure their MSP take security seriously. Overlooking that could cost the SMB everything.

It can be difficult for a non-IT expert to gauge the security knowledge and expertise of an MSP. That is why it’s important for SMB owners and managers to educate themselves on the basics of IT security so they can ensure that an MSP will make it a top priority. Here are four basics to get you started:

IT Security

The basic definition of IT security is the protection of your company’s IT assets, including data, software, email, servers, PCs, laptops, mobile devices, and networks. Comprehensive IT security should have multiple layers that are constantly tested and improved. It starts with safeguards that protect the infrastructure from unauthorized access, malicious code, and internal malpractice. It includes comprehensive policies on computer use, password security, disaster recovery and external access.

Backups

Data losses happen all the time. A server crashes at the wrong time or a virus hits the network. Backing up critical data ensures quick recovery and minimizes a loss of productivity. The term “backing up” refers to copying computer data and archiving it to a local server and to an external site. The external backup ensures your business continuity in case of a local problem. The MSP should use the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with a minimum key length of 128 bits.

Disaster Recovery

If your company gets hit by a disaster, you need to be able to recover quickly. Disaster recovery planning for your IT assets should be part of any company’s internal strategy. This is especially critical in any MSP relationship. When you rely on an IT services provider in Los Angeles to handle your IT assets, you need to know that they will be there to help you recover from a disaster. An IT provider can create a well-designed disaster recovery plan for your business.

Compliance

Many industries, such as healthcare and legal services, have strict guidelines when it comes to handling sensitive data. Remaining compliant with these guidelines is a major business concern in these sectors. If your company is in one of these sectors, your MSP needs to be fully aware of the guidelines and have established policies and procedures for bringing and keeping clients into compliance. It will save your company money while protecting your brand at the same time.

Security needs to be a top priority when building a relationship with an IT service provider. Understanding the basics of IT security is the first step. If you are in the market for IT services in Los Angeles, contact us at Advanced Networks today. We have the knowledge and expertise in IT security to ensure your infrastructure remains safe.

IT Consultants in Los Angeles Provides Necessary Disaster Recovery Solutions

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IT consultants in Los Angeles can be an integral component of disaster recovery. If you don’t have some kind of solution in place, you’re very likely to experience downtime. So, consider these questions:

  • Have you ever had downtime?
  • Can you afford to lose all your files suddenly?
  • When was the last time you experienced a system crash?

Downtime

IT consultants in Los Angeles providing disaster recovery can reduce downtime expenses, which are often substantial. If you only lose $1,000 an hour from downtime, then one eight-hour day of losses comes to $8k. 10 days like that in a year comes to $80k. If you can find disaster recovery solutions under $1k a month, you’ll find they pay for themselves many times over. If you’ve ever had downtime, imagine seeing that lost productivity essentially erased. With a cloud-based backup and disaster recovery solution, you’re going to see failover that reboots systems almost instantaneously. Data mirroring is one way this becomes possible. Basically, data is mirrored on the cloud, and when a system starts to crash, the mirrored network launches, allowing for continuing operations while whatever issue undermined primary systems are addressed.

Data Retention

You need to have data retention solutions that are continuously in play, because if you don’t, something could erase all your files in an instant and leave you no recourse. Consider ransomware, as an example. This is a program that holds your information for ransom under encryption. If you don’t pay the ransom, your files are destroyed, often within a 24-hour period. What’s worse is that you may be ransomed again if you don’t have a disaster recovery solution in place. Ransomware tends to hide itself and can be very hard to find once it has wormed its way into your systems.

System Crashes

Some businesses use data that must be maintained on-site for security purposes. Having a backup solution of this variety is commendable; but you’ve still got to test it as regularly as you can. When was the last time you had a system crash? Was it three or four years ago? Have you tested your backup recovery solutions since then, or have they remained invisibly operating in the background?

It’s absolutely essential to have a regular regimen of tests for your backup solutions. They’re no any good to you if they can’t restore systems when you need them most. This is especially true considering Moore’s Law predicts technology will double on itself every 1.5 years or so. This trickles down to businesses, for example, laptop purchased five years ago will be presently so anachronistic it’s near unusable. If you haven’t tested your backup in the last three to five years, you may not have one.

Securing Backup

IT consultants in Los Angeles providing disaster recovery through Advanced Networks helps you be sure systems are at their most secure in a perpetual way. You’re likely going to come against situations where tech doesn’t function as it should. Not having disaster contingencies in place is catastrophic. Contact us for backup solutions designed to avoid such situations.

IT Services in Los Angeles: 6 Tips to Have More Reliable Disaster Recovery Solutions

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Work Smarter, Not Harder

IT services providers in Los Angeles often operate under a strategy that emphasizes intelligent work, rather than hard work. You can bang your head against a wall for hours and maybe you’ll make a dent. That’s hard work. Yet, it doesn’t yield the same result as using a drill and a drill holds no comparison to dynamite. The smarter you are, the less work will be necessary. The same is true when it comes to disaster recovery. Following are six tips to help you have more reliable, sustainable, convenient, cost-effective recovery at a maximum of efficacy, silhouetted by a minimum of complication:

  • Faster recovery, not faster backup
  • Appropriate history of backups
  • Essential applications and data backup
  • Incorporate offsite (and/or online) backup solutions
  • Test restoration procedures

Faster Recovery, Not Faster Backup

When you’re backing up systems, IT services providers in Los Angeles will advise that you focus on the recovery rather than the speed of the data storage. If you are able to back things up fast but it won’t boot correctly after a disaster because of transmission errors; then you’ve basically wasted time and money for a false hope. Provided the process of backup doesn’t restrict essential systems from operating, let it take as long as necessary. For the most part, such backup solutions are background operations on the network. They work with your MSP in order to get this disaster recovery measure right.

Appropriate History of Backups

It won’t be feasible for you to maintain backup solutions all the way back to the 90s. Perhaps this is possible, IBM and other big-ticket organizations of the same kind are likely doing this very thing. For most businesses, keeping comprehensive data records decades in the past just isn’t feasible. It takes up much unnecessary space. Figure out what you need and how far to maintain backup history. Likely, you’re safe dumping old backups every five years. By then you’ll have transitioned to an, exponentially, greater echelon of computational solutions; which can retain older data without compromising available space. This will differ per business. Again, consulting an MSP can help give you the most accurate information in this regard.

Essential Applications and Data Backup

Your primary backup solutions should surround those operations which are integral to your business. Ensure your necessary operational parameters are taken care of before you back up secondary data. You need to know what is most integral to operations.

Incorporate Offsite (and/or Online) Backup Solutions

If an earthquake swallows the shopping center where your servers are located while you have no online or offsite backup, you lose all that data. It just makes sense to incorporate strategic redundancy via external backup solutions maintained offsite.

Test Restoration Procedures

Lastly, the most comprehensive backup is useless if you can’t restore your systems from it. Test your solutions, regularly, to ensure they’re working as they should. Then, when disaster strikes, you know you’re safe.

Obtaining Secure Backup Solutions

IT services in Los Angeles through Advanced Networks include disaster recovery solutions. Contact us to comprehensively safeguard systems in the most effective reliable way. Disasters happen, and you can’t predict when. So, be appropriately prepared.

IT Consultants in Los Angeles Help Maintain Business Continuity

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IT consultants in Los Angeles can be an integral component in maintaining business continuity. You don’t necessarily need to onboard the entirety of security services from a given MSP to experience the security of business continuity. Sometimes you can work with them on a basis of consultancy. However, there is such a thing as opportunity cost. That is to say, by doing something yourself internally, you’re likely to spend more money and take more time, limiting your outward marketing potential— or other operations that require some quotient of funding. With that in mind, following are several considerations to take into account as you go about designing your business continuity solution:

  • Malware is a primary threat to small businesses
  • Small businesses are a primary target of malware
  • The majority of security situations develop internally
  • Many businesses neglect to test backup solutions properly

Malware and Small Businesses

IT consultants in Los Angeles providing business continuity will definitely recommend that you defend against malware. Small businesses are more susceptible to things like ransomware because they can’t afford not to pay the ransom. Hackers understand this, and as a result, there are quite a few small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) who are primarily targeted— approximately 43%, in fact.

Malware is a big threat to your business— especially if you’re smaller. And as an SMB, you’re a primary target. If you don’t have some kind of business continuity solution designed to overcome such hacking problems, you’ve got greater than a four-in-ten chance of being compromised.

Majority of Security Situations Develop Internally

Complicating the issue is the fact that most of your greatest security threats develop internally. A lot of that comes from a lack of education. Basically, employees don’t realize that many of the issues which compromise systems come from their poor online etiquette. Many MSPs can actually help you educate your workers pertaining to best online practices; it’s wise to employ such solutions as best as you can.

Don’t Neglect Backup Tests!

It doesn’t matter how comprehensive, extensive, or expensive your backup solution is if you have not been careful to test it. Backup systems that are maintained by your business on-site are subject to entropy just like any other system. The same goes for physical backup solutions maintained offsite. The best marriage of cost-effective backup that simultaneously reduces maintenance costs and invokes redundancy solutions will often come from a cloud computing solution. Cloud backups are maintained by the providers of the cloud solutions they purvey. It’s in their best interest to ensure all systems operate correctly. This is especially true when things like shared liability come into the equation. HIPAA predicates fines for MSPs who don’t properly secure clients in accordance with HIPAA regulations. Ergo, MSPs and cloud providers who may be in a position to provide such services must be very careful they don’t get fined. This is one of many reasons why many SMBs outsource to the cloud for backup.

IT consultants in Los Angeles can help safeguard your business in ways you may not even have the ability to anticipate. Contact us at Advanced Networks for security you can trust.