Navigating Disaster Recovery: Insights from Ichthus College and Synology
Introduction
Disaster recovery is crucial for all organizations, yet small IT teams often face unique challenges in implementing effective backup strategies. Recently, we had a conversation with Milovan Milic, IT head at Ichthus College in Veenendaal, Netherlands, and Alexandra Bejan, Marketing Director at Synology, to delve into successful practices for robust backup management.
A Decade with Synology
Ichthus College has integrated Synology hardware for over ten years, primarily using the Synology SA3400D as their "Super NAS." With twelve 16TB disks, they upgraded their system with a new expansion unit, RXD1219sas, poised for future projects. Their main NAS provides 120TB capacity in a RAID 6 setup, ensuring reliability even amidst challenges like disk failures.
A Textbook Example of Backup Efficacy
Milovan’s experience ten years ago underscores the importance of meticulous backup strategies. After multiple storage failures wiped critical data, a successful restoration from Synology’s VM backup system reaffirmed the necessity of a comprehensive disaster recovery plan.
Future-Proof Planning
Looking ahead, the fluctuating student enrollment at Ichthus necessitates a flexible infrastructure. Milovan’s team takes a deliberate approach to scaling their systems, ensuring that any investments are justifiable—aligning with Synology’s guidance and industry trends.
Evolving Strategies: Beyond the Traditional 3-2-1 Rule
To further enhance their disaster recovery efforts, Synology promotes a refined version of the traditional 3-2-1 backup strategy—3-2-1-1-0—adding an immutable copy and zero backup failures to protect against ransomware.
Real-World Impact
This approach demonstrates that even smaller organizations can maintain an enterprise-grade backup system. The educational sector, specifically entities managing sensitive data like Ichthus College, can leverage these strategies to safeguard against emerging cybersecurity threats.
Expert Insights
“The biggest challenge in ransomware protection is no longer a technical issue but a management concern,” states Bejan. Organizations must prepare proactively, establishing comprehensive, adaptable strategies that recognize both technological and human factors.
What’s Next for Backup Innovation?
As the landscape of cybersecurity evolves, the focus will increasingly shift towards user education and zero-trust frameworks, making robust access controls and strong password policies more critical than ever.
Conclusion
Ensuring data security today requires a paradigm shift toward proactive operational frameworks, as illustrated by Synology and Ichthus College.
Stay Updated
For further developments in disaster recovery strategies and backup innovation, follow Synology’s updates at their website.
