Below the line · 07 · Backup & Disaster Recovery
Being backed up is not being recoverable.
Most Anchorage businesses have backups and no real recovery plan. When a server dies or ransomware hits, that gap is the difference between two hours of downtime and two weeks. We close it: tested restores, an isolated copy, and a documented plan.
Freeze Frame Solutions · Anchorage, Alaska
The backup that fails when you need it
The most expensive sentence in IT is "but we had backups." A backup that has never been restored, that lives on the same network ransomware just encrypted, or that has nowhere to be restored to, is a false sense of security. Every disaster that becomes a business-ending event has the same root cause: a backup gap nobody discovered until the worst possible moment. Disaster recovery is the work that makes the bad day survivable, and it happens quietly, months earlier, when nothing is wrong.
The two numbers that define recovery
Plain-English RTO and RPO.
How much data can you afford to lose?
Set by how often backups run. Nightly backups mean up to a day of work at risk; more frequent backups shrink that gap. We size it to what your business can actually tolerate.
How long can you be down?
Set by how recovery actually works, not by the backup. A local recovery target and a tested plan mean hours; re-downloading everything and figuring it out live means days.
What managed BDR includes
Five layers between you and a lost week.
Frequent, automated backups
Backups run on a schedule frequent enough to hit a recovery point you can live with, covering servers, workstations, and your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace data, which most businesses wrongly assume the cloud provider backs up for them.
An isolated, ransomware-proof copy
At least one copy lives where an infection on your network cannot reach or encrypt it: immutable cloud storage or an air-gapped target. This is the copy that gets you out of a ransomware event.
A recovery target that can actually run
Somewhere to restore to, fast: a local appliance or cloud failover that can stand your systems back up in hours, not the days it takes to re-download everything over a business internet line.
Tested restores, on a schedule
We periodically perform a real restore and confirm it works, because a backup you have never restored is a guess. This single discipline is what separates "backed up" from "recoverable."
A documented recovery plan
A written, ordered plan: which systems first, who does what, what depends on what. So recovery is a procedure your team follows, not an improvisation during a crisis.
Ransomware recovery
Designed so paying is never the only option.
When ransomware is the disaster, your isolated, tested backup is your leverage. With a clean copy ransomware could not touch and a recovery target ready to go, the path is to wipe, rebuild, and restore, not to negotiate with criminals. We pair this with the EDR and email filtering that aim to stop the attack before it ever spreads. Recovery is the safety net; prevention is the first line.
Put a number on it
What would a two-day outage cost you?
Use the free downtime calculator with your real figures. It tends to reframe the "we can't afford IT" conversation.
Where this lands
IT for Anchorage Accounting Firms
QuickBooks Desktop on Windows Server, IRS data security requirements, and tax-season uptime.
See how →
IT for Anchorage Law Firms
Practice management software, encrypted email, secure client portals, and ABA-aligned data security.
See how →
IT for Alaska Trucking & Logistics
Dispatch systems, ELD compliance, fleet MDM, and remote-site connectivity for Alaska fleets.
See how →
Would your backups actually restore?
Most owners aren't sure, and that uncertainty is the whole problem. The free IT Health Check includes verifying it. If the answer is no, that is the most important thing you'll learn this month.