Data Backup & Disaster
Recovery in Fort Frances
Real backups that survive ransomware, hardware failure, and the day someone deletes the wrong folder. Plus a written recovery plan, so you know exactly what happens when something goes wrong.
Get a backup plan →Backups that actually work
when you need them.
Most businesses think they’re
backed up. They aren’t.
When we audit a new client, we almost always find at least one of these: the backup hasn’t actually run in months, the backup includes things you don’t need but misses things you do, the only copy lives on a USB drive plugged into the server (which ransomware also encrypted), or the backup software was set up once and nobody’s checked it since.
A real backup follows the 3-2-1 rule: three copies of your data, on two different types of media, with at least one copy off-site. It runs automatically, gets monitored, and gets tested. And it’s designed so a ransomware attack on your main systems can’t reach the backup — immutable storage, separated credentials, isolated networks.
We design backup systems that survive the realistic scenarios — ransomware, accidental deletion, hardware failure, theft, fire, flood, and the contractor who deletes the wrong folder on a Friday afternoon. Then we test them so we know they work.
If you have M365, you probably
don’t have a real backup.
Microsoft 365 has redundancy and short-term recovery built in — but it’s not a backup. If a user deletes a mailbox or a SharePoint site, you have limited time before it’s permanently gone. If an attacker gets domain admin and wipes everything, Microsoft can’t roll you back. If a former employee maliciously deletes data on their way out, that data is gone.
A proper third-party Microsoft 365 backup costs $3–$5 per user per month and protects against all of these scenarios. Of every cheap, high-impact thing a business with M365 can add to their setup, this is the one we recommend most often.
Backup & Recovery FAQ
Not sure if your backups
actually work? Let’s check.
Tell us what you’ve got set up. We’ll review it honestly, point out the gaps, and quote what it’d cost to fix them.
How much does business backup cost?
Cloud backup typically runs $50–$300 per month depending on how much data you have and how many systems you’re backing up. Initial setup is usually $300–$1,500. We quote based on your actual data volume and retention requirements — no per-user upcharges or hidden fees.
Doesn’t Microsoft 365 already back up our email?
No — and this catches a lot of businesses off-guard. Microsoft 365 protects against their data loss, not yours. If a user deletes a mailbox, an attacker compromises an account, or a malicious actor wipes a SharePoint site, Microsoft has limited retention before it’s gone. A separate Microsoft 365 backup is one of the cheapest and most important things a business can add.
What is the 3-2-1 backup rule?
Three copies of your data, on two different types of media, with at least one copy off-site. It’s the simplest rule that protects you against most disaster scenarios — hardware failure, ransomware, theft, fire, flood. We design backup setups around this rule by default.
Can ransomware destroy our backups?
It can if the backups aren’t designed correctly. Modern ransomware specifically targets connected backup drives and cloud sync folders before encrypting the rest. We use immutable backups — copies that can’t be modified or deleted for a defined retention period — so even a domain-wide compromise can’t destroy your recovery.
How do you test that the backups actually work?
A backup that’s never been restored is just a hope. We test recovery on a defined schedule — usually quarterly for critical systems — by spinning up backed-up servers in an isolated environment and confirming everything works. This is the single biggest difference between real backup and the false sense of security most businesses have.
What’s the difference between backup and disaster recovery?
Backup is a copy of your data. Disaster recovery is the plan, time, and steps to actually get back up and running if something goes wrong. We do both — proper backups plus a written DR plan covering who calls who, what order systems come back online, and how long the whole process takes.