Data is the most valuable asset of every business. It's the lifeblood and core of almost all enterprises in Israel and abroad. Your company should therefore take every step necessary to mitigate against damages caused by data loss of any cause. DataBank is dedicated to eliminating risk, enhancing disaster preparedness and ensuring recovery, whenever and wherever needed.
Many companies in Israel still take shortcuts and invent their own solutions. These solutions are simply riddled with many points of failure. This could result in considerable financial and legal liability in the event of irreparable loss of data.
RISKS OF OTHER SOLUTIONS
ONSITE (FIREPROOF SAFE)
Many companies in Israel are under the impression that a fireproof safe provides an adequate solution to their storage needs. A fireproof safe is an acceptable solution to protect paper documents and jewellery during a fire; however the heat from a fire (even felt through the safe) will eventually melt your backup tapes and destroy your data.
Storing backup tapes onsite is a risky plan for the following reasons:
- Onsite storage will not help you in the event of a complete disaster
- Temperature and Humidity are not maintained at a constant level
- Most fireproof safes have a fire rating of between 1-2 hours. In most cases of a building fire, the fire burns for a lot longer than 2 hours.
ANOTHER OFFICE
Creating your own offsite solution utilizing another office or building is a dangerous practice and in most cases not cost effective. Below is a list of considerations to think about when evaluating an in-house plan for your backup tapes.
Using another office to store backup tapes is problematic for a number of reasons:
- Temperature and Humidity are not maintained at a constant level.
- The backup tapes are not transported under the correct security and conditions.
- The process relies on employee's remembering to take the backup tapes to the other office.
- There is no accountability proving that the backup tapes have been sent offsite.
- Who has access to these backup tapes in the other office ? If one backup tape goes missing, you will probably not notice until it's too late.
- The site may not be an adequate distance from the primary office.
EMPLOYEE'S HOME
Company data is as valuable as company money. For example, if a company is valued at $30 million, it is extremely unlikely that any CEO would permit an employee of the company to take that $30 million in cash home. The same logic should apply to the company data.
The house of an employee raises a red flag for a number of reasons:
- Temperature and Humidity are not maintained at a constant level. A house is built to live in, not to store backup tapes.
- Security is a major concern. Where are these tapes kept ? Who has access to them ?
- How are these tapes transported to the house of this employee ? Does the employee travel directly home, or does he/she stop off to buy milk ?
- If the employee is sick or on vacation, what happens to the backup tapes ?
- If the employee is fired, how can you be assured you will get back all the tapes ?
- The biggest problem is that employees simply forget to take the tapes home.
BANK SAFE
Bank safety deposit boxes are built to store money and jewellery.
Using a bank safety deposit box to store backup tapes is problematic for a number of reasons:
- Temperature and Humidity are not maintained at a constant level.
- You can only access your backup tapes when the bank is open.
- It is extremely difficult to change signatures on the account.
- An employee has to go to the bank to deliver the backup tapes.
- You have no idea what items are stored in the box next to yours
PAPER ARCHIVE COMPANY
The data stored on your backup tapes is the lifeline of your company. These backup tapes must be handled, transported, stored and managed under the correct conditions or there is a good chance you won't be able to recover the data at that critical moment.
In Israel, the paper archive companies do a great job in storing paper documents. However, storing and transporting a box of documents is a completely different service to storing and transporting backup tapes.
It is very important to compare apples with apples when evaluating the offsite storage of your backup tapes.
Using a paper archive company to store and transport your backup tapes is problematic for a number of reasons. Before handing over your sensitive backup tapes to a paper archive company ask yourself the following questions .....
- How can I be assured that the temperature and humidity in the storage location are maintained at a constant level ? - What happens if there is a power cut ?
- Do I want my backup tapes to be transported in the back of a van that has no environmental controls ?
- Will the drivers handle my backup tapes like they would handle a box of paper ? - Backup tapes need to be handled in a very careful manner and should not be thrown about.
- Do I want to store my backup tapes in a room next to thousands of boxes of highly flammable paper ?
- Do I want to take the risk of storing my backup tapes in a room that has a water and foam fire suppression system. - What will happen to my backup tapes if there is an accidental release of water ?
