Algeria AgencyInfrastructure
NAS & backup
A backup that restores, tested regularly — because a backup never restored is an assumption, not a protection.
The question is never "do you have a backup". Almost everybody does. The question is: when did somebody last restore from it, how long did it take, and was everything there? In most audits we run, nobody has ever tried.
A backup has three properties that have to be verified rather than assumed. It has to cover what actually matters, including the files that live on workstations rather than on the server. It has to exist somewhere other than on site, or a physical incident takes both. And it has to restore in a time your business can absorb.
That last point is the forgotten one. A backup that takes three days to come back protects your data and not your company. So we measure the restore time and give it to you, because that is the number that matters when the failure happens.
Shared storage, then, serves work as much as protection. A properly configured NAS eliminates the same file in five versions on five machines, which removes an entire category of problems usually blamed on people.
What we usually find
- Your backup runs, and nobody has ever attempted a restore.
- The important files are on the workstations, not on the server.
- Your only copy is in the same room as the original.
- The same document exists in five versions and nobody knows which is current.
What changes
A proven restore
Tested periodically, with the time it takes measured and written down — the only number that matters on the day.
An off-site copy
Somewhere other than the premises, because a physical incident taking the original takes the neighbouring copy too.
One version of each file
Shared storage removes parallel copies, which solves a problem usually attributed to people.
What you get
A defined scope
What is backed up and what is not, written down, workstations and mailboxes included.
A copy rule
Several copies, one of them out of the building, because a single copy is not a backup.
A configured NAS
Shared storage with disk redundancy, access rights, and previous versions kept.
Restore tests
Scheduled and actually executed, with the result and the duration recorded.
Protection against malicious encryption
Copies that cannot be modified from the network, because ransomware encrypts reachable backups too.
Recovery documentation
The restore procedure written down, executable by somebody other than whoever installed it.
Is this the right fit for you?
This is for you if
- You hold data whose loss would stop the business.
- Several people work on the same files.
- You accept testing the restore rather than assuming it works.
This is not for you if
- Your data lives entirely in online services you do not administer. That is a different subject.
- You want a backup you will never test. We do not sell that reassurance.
- You only want storage for files whose loss would have no consequence.
What we commit to
A restore executed at installation
We do not hand over a backup without having restored from it at least once, in front of you.
The restore time is given to you
In hours, measured. It is the number you need to know before the failure, not during it.
One copy out of the building
We refuse to deliver an installation where every copy is in the same room.
Backing up in Algeria
The off-site copy raises a practical problem: available bandwidth does not always allow a large volume to be sent every night. So we design mixed arrangements — a fast local copy, a partial or deferred remote copy — rather than prescribing a model that will not hold on your connection.
Replacement hardware is the second factor. A NAS whose disk fails and whose model is not available locally turns a minor incident into a stoppage. We choose with an eye on what you will be able to buy here, not on the best specification sheet.
Power, finally, decides lifespan. Repeated outages damage disks and corrupt writes in progress. A properly sized UPS costs a fraction of the NAS and avoids the most frequent failure we see.
Frequently asked questions
Is an external disk enough?
As a sole copy, no. It is in the same room, it is only connected intermittently, and it fails like any disk. It can serve as an additional copy, not as the main backup.
Does cloud replace a NAS?
It complements rather than replaces, especially where bandwidth limits restores. The right arrangement usually combines both, and we explain why in your case.
How often should the restore be tested?
Regularly, and especially after any infrastructure change. A backup that worked a year ago proves nothing about today’s.
What happens in a ransomware incident?
That is exactly why one copy has to be unwritable from the network. A backup mounted as a network drive gets encrypted with everything else.
Should workstations be backed up?
Almost always, because a significant share of important files lives there despite the rules. We look at what is actually on them rather than what should be.
How long should versions be kept?
Long enough to cover how long a problem takes to notice. A file corrupted three weeks ago cannot be recovered from seven days of history.
How to start
Tell us what you back up today, where, and how long it has been since anybody restored.
We come back with what the scope is missing, the copy arrangement we recommend, and the restore time to aim for given your activity.
What we have written on this subject
Backups and continuity: what actually gets a business running again
A backup that has never been restored is not a backup. It is an assumption.The restore test: the one day you know the backup exists
A backup never restored is a hypothesis. The test is scheduled, timed and recorded — twice a year, onto a machine that is not the original.Cloud hosting: what costs is not the storage
The line everybody compares is the cheapest on the invoice. The other three get paid on the day you need them most.The account, not the server: what you actually lose in the cloud
Everything you keep there passes through one login, one mailbox and one card. What breaks that chain, and in what order.Infrastructure: where your data lives, and how long it takes to leave
The only family in this pillar that produces nothing visible. The useful question is not local or cloud: it is the notice period for getting out.The mains before the UPS: earth, circuit and heat
A UPS fixes neither a missing earth, nor a shared circuit, nor the heat that follows an outage. What damages equipment upstream of it, and how to check.
Let us talk about your project
A free audit, no commitment: we look at your online presence and tell you what is holding it back.
- A restore executed at installation
- The restore time is given to you
- One copy out of the building