Five Common Real-World Scenarios Where Backups Save The Day

When it comes to backing up your network, it’s smart to hope for the best but plan for the worst. Stuff happens, and having a backup available can mean the difference between a total disaster and a mere headache for your business. 

Here are five real-world situations where a simple backup can prevent a prolonged interruption in your day-to-day work:

1. Someone accidentally deletes a shared file

People make mistakes — it’s part of being human. Sometimes, an employee accidentally deletes an important shared file, like a contract, financial report, or other critical document. Without a backup, the file could be lost forever.

Backup Solution: Shadow Copy

Shadow Copy is a built-in feature included in Microsoft Windows computers. This technology automatically creates snapshots of files at set intervals, allowing quick recovery of accidentally deleted or overwritten files. 

Benefits: Because Shadow Copy is built into Windows OS, it’s convenient, affordable and easy-to-use.

Restoration Speed: Fast — it only takes a few minutes.

Caveats: Not all files can be restored with Shadow Copy — database files and files inside apps, for example, aren’t captured in a Shadow Copy snapshot. Also, Shadow Copy isn’t a true backup. If a server dies, Shadow Copy won’t do you much good. 

2. Your server dies

Shadow Copy stores snapshots on the same server as your original files, so if your server does die, you’ll need more than just a Shadow Copy to restore your data.

Backup Solution: Physical Backup

A physical backup takes a snapshot of your entire network at regular intervals. At Grand Consulting, we typically install a Network Attached Storage (NAS) for this, but you can also use external hard drives or a dedicated backup server.

Benefits: Physical backups are relatively inexpensive and they don’t require an ongoing subscription fee after installation. Everything will be back up automatically every day, but we recommend keeping an eye on things to make sure your backups are working properly.

Restoration Speed: Moderate — Recovery takes a little longer than a Shadow Copy — usually a few minutes to a few hours, depending on scope.

Caveats: Physical devices can degrade over time or become corrupted. Also, if your backup is stored in the same location as the primary hardware, you won’t be protected against fire, flood, theft, or other disasters.

3. Your office floods

Shadow Copy and physical backups are the bare minimum when it comes to backups, and they usually save the day in the most common scenarios. But what happens if your office experiences a flood or fire that engulfs both your primary server(s) and backup equipment?

Backup Solution: Cloud Backup

Cloud backups are a last-resort, worst-case scenario solution that will restore your data if something happens to the infrastructure and hardware at your office.

Benefits: With copies of your data stored in the cloud, you’ll be able to recover your data even in the most extreme circumstances and emergency events.

Restoration Speed: Slow — could take a week or multiple weeks.

Caveats: To maintain cloud backups, you’ll pay fees for your cloud service subscription, storage, and bandwidth. During restoration, your business will experience some downtime.

4. You experience a ransomware or malware attack

Hopefully, your business is never targeted by malicious actors seeking to access and exploit your company data. However, if you do find yourself the victim of a cyber incident, there are ways to restore data that is corrupted or deleted.

Backup Solution: Shadow Copy + Physical Backup

In some cases, simply reverting to a previous Shadow Copy will undo the damage of a ransomware incident. In other cases, ransomware may corrupt your Shadow Copy backups, in which case, you would need to use a physical backup to restore your files. 

We recommend using a combination of Shadow Copy and physical backups to prevent data loss in the event of a cyber attack. It’s also important to keep the software on your work station and server up-to-date to protect from new vulnerabilities.

For many of our Managed IT Services clients, we install security monitoring tools to detect malicious activity or non-compliance. At the end of each month, these clients receive a monthly security report summarizing any issues we may have found.

5. You receive corrupted data from a software provider

In July 2024, this exact scenario left the air travel industry reeling. A faulty software update from the firm Crowdstrike caused millions of computers to crash, leading to hundreds of cancelled flights and other disruptions across automotive, retail, and financial sectors.

While computers affected by the Crowdstrike update required more than a simple restoration from backup, it’s a perfect example of how software companies can quietly push updates and wreak havoc on your systems.

Backup Solution: Shadow Copy + Physical Backup

With incidents involving third-party vendors, recovery methods and timelines can vary. Sometimes, the vendor may resolve the issue quickly, but other times, you may need to restore your own clean backup to avoid extended downtime.

The Bottom Line: Backups Save Your Butt

Your business needs some sort of backup plan to prevent data loss. Shadow Copy and physical backups are the bare minimum, but you may want to consider investing in a cloud backup solution as an additional layer of protection. 

Grand Consulting helps all types of clients assess their current backups and implement additional backup solutions. We’ve seen it all, from fires and floods to data breaches and break-ins, and we can walk you through scenarios and address your specific needs.