The Backup Wrap-Up

Want to know how to build an immutable backup system protected from ransomware attacks? In this episode, Curtis and Prasanna go beyond the basics to discuss four critical security features every modern backup system needs. Building on feedback from their previous episode about backup fundamentals, they cover multi-factor authentication (and why SMS doesn't cut it anymore), secure remote access methods, role-based access control, and when to bring in managed security service providers. The hosts explain why the person with full backup system access is literally the most powerful person in your company from a data destruction standpoint. If ransomware is your number one recovery scenario—and it is—then these security hardening techniques aren't optional. They're survival skills for your backup infrastructure.

Every backup system needs certain design elements to actually work when disaster strikes. In this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, W. Curtis Preston (Mr. Backup) and Prasanna Malaiyandi break down the 10 non-negotiable components your backup system must have. They cover the 3-2-1 rule, automated scheduling, recovery testing, defined RTOs and RPOs, backup security, SaaS protection, documentation, retention policies, monitoring, and endpoint backup. If your backup system is missing any of these elements, you're taking risks you can't afford. Curtis and Prasanna share war stories from real disasters and explain why no one cares if you can back up - they only care if you can restore. This fast-paced episode gives you the checklist every IT professional needs to evaluate their current backup approach.

The 3-2-1 rule is dead. Long live 3-2-1-1-0. For decades, the 3-2-1 rule has been the gold standard for backup strategies - three copies of your data, on two different media, with one copy somewhere else. But ransomware killed it. Not because the fundamentals were wrong, but because threat actors learned to target backups specifically. In this episode, Curtis and Prasanna explain why the traditional 3-2-1 rule isn't enough anymore and what the evolution to 3-2-1-1-0 means for your backup strategy. The extra "1" stands for one immutable, air-gapped copy that attackers can't delete or encrypt. The "0" means zero failures - your backups must actually work when you need them. You'll learn why SaaS platforms don't meet the 3-2-1 rule, how to think about immutability in the cloud era, and why this upgrade isn't optional if you want to survive a ransomware attack.Our interview with Peter Krogh, the one who coined the term:https://www.backupwrapup.com/peter-krogh-who-coined-the-3-2-1-rule-on-our-podcast/

Want to know how much data you're really willing to lose? We're breaking down recovery point objective RPO - the agreement about how much data loss you can accept, measured in time. Most organizations have RPOs that are pure fantasy, claiming they can only lose an hour of data when they're backing up once a day. Curtis and Prasanna discuss why RPO matters, how ransomware scenarios can force you to accept more data loss than planned, and the difference between your stated RPO and your actual backup frequency. Learn practical strategies for rightsizing your backup schedule, using database transaction logs to minimize data loss, leveraging snapshot-based backup technologies, and protecting your SaaS applications like Microsoft 365 and Salesforce. From incremental backups to continuous data protection, discover how modern backup technology can help you meet your recovery point objective RPO targets without overwhelming your infrastructure.

Most IT teams can't meet their recovery time objective—and they don't even know it. In this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, Curtis and Prasanna explain why your RTO is probably fantasy, who should actually be setting it (hint: not you), and what recovery time actual really means. We cover the critical difference between objectives and reality, why testing is non-negotiable, and how to have honest conversations with business leadership about what's achievable. Learn about DR drills, chaos engineering, tabletop exercises, and why measuring your actual recovery times is the only way to close the gap. Stop feeling like a failure and start building realistic, tested recovery plans that actually work when disaster strikes.