How good is your backup software?

Take this quick 10 question quiz to see how your backup platform stacks up!
Learn why key features are integral to the success of your IT operation.

1. 1. Is the data encrypted during backup, transit and at rest?
   1. A. Yes, my backup solution has strong client-side encryption.
   2. B. The data is encrypted during parts of the backup process, but not the entire time.

   Excellent! You’re well protected. That’s exactly what you want.

   Your backup solution is the armored truck that drives your data from your business to the safety of a locked bank vault. Don’t leave your business open to vulnerabilities by driving your data to the bank in an unarmored vehicle or leaving the bank vault unlocked! It’s important to have encryption at all points of the backup process.

2. 2. Are the backups incremental forever?
   1. A. Yes, my backups are incremental forever.
   2. B. No, they’re full, differential or incremental backups.
   3. C. What’s an incremental forever backup?

   Awesome, incremental forever backups ensure that your oldest backup can restore just as fast as your most recent backups. No need for differentials or delta-merging.

   Full backups are the most storage and network bandwidth intensive because you have to take the hit of re-uploading the entire file each time.

   Differential backups store the changes since the last Full backup, meaning there are just two parts to restore, but as time passes since the last Full backup, the changes get larger and larger over time until they may even be bigger than another Full backup.

   Incremental backups are different than incremental forever backups because they result in a chain of patches threading back to the original Full backup, that all must be restored perfectly before you can get your data back.

   Incremental Forever is a new technology that frees you to only ever upload the changed data, all while allowing immediate restore of any point in time – chain-free.

   Incremental forever backups allow you to only upload the changes after the first full upload. It allows you to restore your oldest backup just as fast as your most recent backups. And there’s no need for differentials or delta-merging.

3. 3. Can you choose where the data is backed up to?
   1. A. Yes, I can backup to any S3 compatible cloud provider or on-premises storage.
   2. B. No, I’m locked into a specific setup.

   It’s great to have the flexibility to configure your backup environment to suit your business needs and slash storage costs by using a lower cost cloud platform.

   Is there enough flexibility to adjust your backup environment for your evolving business needs? Can you slash your storage costs by using a low-cost cloud provider?

4. 4. Is there support for code signing and rebranding / white-labelling?
   1. A. Yes
   2. B. No
   3. C. What’s code signing?

   Applying a custom brand to the backup software lets you provide a more personalized service to your customers. It helps strengthen your brand recognition, it encourages the customers to come to you for support, and keeps them in your ecosystem. When the product installer is customized – either for rebranding or to embed your self-hosted backup server address – configuring a codesigning certificate helps you pass through reputation-based checks from security software, such as AV and EDR software; SmartScreen on Windows; or Gatekeeper on macOS.

5. 5. Does the software use Java or .NET?
   1. A. No
   2. B. Yes
   3. C. Why does this matter?

   A lot of good and reliable software is developed using these technologies. But if you have administered a Java server application before, you’ll be familiar with slow startup times, high memory usage, JVM heap size configuration flags, and the difficulty of wrangling JKS keystores.

   The .NET ecosystem is highly popular, but it is difficult to coordinate installed Framework versions across different versions of Windows, there are behavior changes even in minor Windows Updates that can cause software crashes, and the macOS/Linux experience is still a major weakness.

   All else being equal, it is better to use a software vendor that is natively cross-platform without requiring Java or .NET.

6. 6. Is there built-in SSL support?
   1. A. Yes
   2. B. No

   That makes life a lot easier because it makes it simple to start out secure and remain secure going forward. A backup server that can automatically manage SSL certificates from an ACME provider like Let’s Encrypt means no hassles around certificate monitoring, expiry, and management.

   Using a backup solution that has built-in SSL support is a lot easier because it makes it simple to start out secure and remain secure going forward. A backup server that can automatically manage SSL certificates from an ACME provider like Let’s Encrypt means no hassles around certificate monitoring, expiry, and management.

7. 7. Is the API always up to date?
   1. A. Yes
   2. B. No

   Perfect, that allows you to automate any action. If you’re a programmer (or if you hire a programmer) the possibilities are endless for software integration, bulk configuration changes, ecommerce signups, management reporting, and anything you put your mind to. When the API isn’t kept up to date, any missing feature coverage may be a roadblock in realizing your business ambitions.

   The API allows you to automate any action. If you’re a programmer (or if you hire a programmer) the possibilities are endless for software integration, bulk configuration changes, ecommerce signups, management reporting, and anything you put your mind to. When the API isn’t kept up to date, any missing feature coverage may be a roadblock in realizing your business ambitions.

8. 8. Can the software be configured to make it GDPR / HIPPA compliant?
   1. A. Yes
   2. B. No

   That’s great that you’re taking care of your customers who work in healthcare or need to respect data sovereignty regulations in the EU.

   If you want to expand your revenue streams to include customers who work in healthcare or need to respect data sovereignty regulations in the EU, it’ll be important to find a backup solution that works for those markets.

9. 9. Do you have two-factor authentication (2FA) set up?
   1. A. Absolutely, we take security very seriously.
   2. B. Not yet.

   Gold star! Your mom would be so proud.

   No time like the present to get that set up. Yes, right now. We’ll wait.

10. 10. Do you regularly check the backup logs or monitor the recent activities page?
    1. A. Yes
    2. B. No

    Taking a proactive approach to ensuring the data will be there when you need it is always a smart use of a few minutes.

    Security incidents might not be obvious right away, so having systems in place to check for unusual activity is important.

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