The backup problems we find most
When we review a new Roswell client, backup is often the weakest link. Common findings: a USB drive that never leaves the server, so ransomware can scramble it in the same attack; a cloud backup whose failure alerts go to someone who left; a job that protects the server while ignoring Microsoft 365, laptops and the practice software database. None of these show up until the day you try to restore.
What Roswell businesses need to plan for
- Ransomware and stolen logins. This is what usually forces a small company into a full restore, and intruders hunt for backup copies so they can wipe them before striking.
- Hardware failure. Servers, storage devices and firewalls wear out, and older ones fail without much warning.
- Mistakes. Someone deletes a folder, overwrites the month-end workbook, or a sync tool wipes the same file from every device.
- Weather and water. Roswell sits on the Chattahoochee River, and Big Creek runs through the historic mill area. In September 2009 both rose sharply during the floods across metro Atlanta, and FEMA issued a disaster declaration covering Fulton County. Fulton has also been under federal declarations for ice storms in 2014, Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Hurricane Helene in 2024. Few offices flood, but fallen trees and long power outages hit many more.
- Building problems. Water from a broken line, smoke from a neighboring tenant or a theft can take out the PCs along with any drive kept beside them. Older buildings in Historic Roswell can be especially exposed to leaks.
How we build it
- Everything that matters is covered: servers, key PCs, mailboxes, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams data, and the databases your business software depends on.
- 3-2-1 copies: your data exists three times, across two different media, and one copy lives offsite in the cloud.
- Protected from attackers: immutable or offline copies that an intruder on your network has no way to erase or lock.
- Checked every business day: a person reviews backup results, and failures get fixed, not just logged.
- Restore tests: on a set calendar we bring back files and entire machines, timing each one, so your recovery estimate is based on fact.
Local examples
Medical and dental practices
HIPAA requires a data backup plan, a disaster recovery plan and an emergency mode plan. More practically, a practice that can't open its schedule or imaging can't see patients. We back up the health record database and imaging storage, keep encrypted copies offsite and document the plan for your risk analysis.
Restaurants and retail
Most POS systems keep sales data in the vendor's cloud, but menus, reports, bookkeeping files and the owner's email often live on a single laptop. We make sure those are backed up too, and that the POS has a way to keep taking cards if the internet goes down.
Professional offices
Law, accounting and real estate firms are bound by record retention rules and client expectations. We keep versioned backups long enough to recover a file from months ago, not just last night.
Recovery is more than restoring files
Restored data means little if nobody can use it. Your written plan names the people to phone, the place staff go if the building is shut, how calls get rerouted, the order systems return in and how clients or patients hear from you. If your people carry laptops and use cloud phones and Microsoft 365 already, most work can carry on from kitchen tables. For companies that can't be down long, we can keep standby copies of key servers in the cloud, ready to start within hours.
Power protection
Brownouts and surges quietly ruin hardware. Servers, firewalls and switches get a correctly sized battery unit that we monitor, configure for a graceful shutdown when the power stays off, and swap out on schedule as it ages.
Questions about backup & disaster recovery
Doesn't Microsoft back up our email and files?
Microsoft keeps the platform up and retains deleted items only briefly. Ransomware spreading through synced folders, a deletion nobody spots for months, or a mailbox removed when someone leaves all need your own backup.
How often are backups tested?
File restores are tested often, and every client gets a full system recovery drill at least annually, followed by a brief report on the results and timing.
