Backup protects your data. Disaster recovery protects your business. You need both: backups so you can get files and systems back, and a disaster recovery plan so you can keep running when something goes badly wrong.
Fortuna Data supplies backup software, storage and tape, and helps UK organisations plan backup and disaster recovery that fits their systems and budget. We have been trading since 1994.
| Backup | Disaster recovery | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Copies of your data, kept separately | A plan and the systems to get the business running again |
| Protects against | Deleted files, corruption, failed drives, ransomware | Site loss, major outages, cyber attacks that take systems down |
| Measured by | How much data you can restore, and how far back | How quickly you are running again (RTO) and how much data you can afford to lose (RPO) |
| Answers | “Can we get the data back?” | “Can we keep the business running?” |
A backup on its own does not tell you who does what, in what order, or how long it will take to be working again. That is what disaster recovery adds.
A backup is a copy of your data stored separately from the original, so you can restore it if the original is lost, damaged or encrypted.
A complete copy of everything selected. Simple to restore, but takes the most time and space.
Copies only what has changed since the last backup. Fast and small, but a restore needs the full backup plus each increment.
Copies everything changed since the last full backup. A middle ground between full and incremental.
Backups sent to cloud storage, giving you an off-site copy without managing a second location.
Disaster recovery (DR) is the plan, people and technology that get your critical systems running again after a serious incident, such as a ransomware attack, a major hardware failure, or losing access to a site.
Tell us what you run and what you back up today, and we will help you find the gaps.
The 3-2-1-1 rule builds on the well-known 3-2-1 backup rule by adding a copy that cannot be changed, which helps protect against ransomware.
The original plus two backups.
For example disk and tape, or disk and cloud.
Away from your main site, in case of fire, flood or theft.
A copy that cannot be changed or deleted, such as immutable storage or a tape kept offline.
Article 32 of UK GDPR asks organisations to have “the ability to restore the availability and access to personal data in a timely manner in the event of a physical or technical incident”, and “a process for regularly testing, assessing and evaluating the effectiveness” of their security measures.
Tested backups and a disaster recovery plan are a practical way to show you can do both.
Backup and recovery software for servers, virtual machines and workstations.
Independent backup of Microsoft 365 data, held in UK and European data centres.
Backup of your Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) users, groups and settings.
Not sure which you need? Try our backup software configurator or talk to us.
Backup is copies of your data. Disaster recovery is the plan and systems that get the whole business running again after a serious incident.
Yes. Backups let you restore data, but without a disaster recovery plan you may not know how long it will take or what to restore first.
RTO is how quickly a system must be running again. RPO is how much data, measured in time, you can afford to lose.
Three copies of your data, on two types of media, with one off-site and one that cannot be changed or is kept offline.
Microsoft keeps the service running, but protecting your data is your responsibility. An independent backup gives you a separate copy to restore from.
Regularly, and whenever your systems change. A tested plan shows what works and what needs fixing before a real incident.
We will look at what you run today, recommend the right backup and disaster recovery approach, and give you a clear UK quote.
Prefer email? Write to solutions@fortunadata.com
