Small Business Backup Solutions: A 3-2-1 Plan You'll Keep
Backup solutions for small business that hold up: the 3-2-1 rule, why sync isn't backup, Microsoft 365, ransomware, test restores and hurricane evacuations.
Backups that you've actually seen restore
A backup nobody has tested is a hope, not a plan. We set up local and cloud copies of what your business can't lose, and we prove they come back.
The 3-2-1 rule, done properly
Three copies of your data, on two different kinds of storage, with one copy off site. For a typical office that means the working data, a fast local backup for quick restores, and a cloud copy that survives a fire, a flood, a stolen server or a hurricane evacuation. We explain it in more detail in our backup guide.
What we back up
- Servers and shared drives, including the database behind your practice-management, accounting or line-of-business software.
- Workstations where people insist on saving to the desktop anyway.
- Microsoft 365: email, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams files, backed up with Dropsuite and NinjaOne. Microsoft keeps the service running; keeping your data recoverable is your job.
- Google Workspace: Gmail and Drive, on the same terms. Google keeps the service running; a separate copy is what gets back what someone deleted.
- Configuration for firewalls and network gear, so a replacement can be up in minutes.
Find out what we'd fix first
A free assessment looks at your computers, network, email and backups, and tells you plainly what needs attention.
Built for ransomware
Ransomware tries to encrypt or delete your backups first. So we keep versioned copies the attacker's account can't reach or overwrite, and we keep enough history to go back to before the infection started. Sync services like OneDrive or Dropbox are useful, but they're not backups: they happily sync an encrypted or deleted file everywhere.
Tested on a schedule
We run test restores and check backup reports as part of managed IT, so a failed job gets fixed the day it fails, not discovered the day you need it.
Questions we get
Isn't OneDrive or Dropbox a backup?
No. They sync, so a deleted or encrypted file is deleted or encrypted everywhere. They're useful, but you still need a separate, versioned backup.
How often should backups run?
For most offices, at least daily for servers and Microsoft 365, more often for busy shared data. We set the schedule around how much work you could afford to redo.
Where is the off-site copy kept?
In an encrypted cloud backup service, so it's outside the building and outside the region's storm path.
Related services
Cybersecurity
Attackers go after small businesses because they're easier, not because they're interesting.
Hard drive & data recovery
Deleted the wrong folder?
Managed IT services
We monitor, patch, secure and back up your computers and network, answer your team's questions, and fix things before they turn into a lost day.
Microsoft 365 & email
Email on your own domain, files in OneDrive and SharePoint, Teams that people actually use, and the security settings that should have been on from the start.
Related reading
Hard Drive Clicking or Grinding? What to Do (and Not Do)
Hard drive clicking or grinding? Turn it off now. What the noise means, what not to try, and how data recovery works for Hilton Head and Bluffton customers.
Tell us what's going on.
Call, or send a few lines about your business or your computer. You'll hear back from a person who can actually fix it.
