A backup you've never tested restoring from isn't a backup — it's a hope. The 3-2-1 rule is a simple standard for making sure that when disaster strikes, you actually have a way out.
Three copies of your data: the original, plus two backups. Two different types of storage media, so a single point of failure — a bad drive, a failed array — can't take out everything at once. One copy stored offsite, so a fire, flood, or ransomware attack that reaches your local network doesn't reach your recovery point too.
Ransomware in particular has made the offsite, isolated copy non-negotiable. Attackers increasingly look for and encrypt or delete local backups before triggering the main payload, specifically to remove your way out.
Every Recover deployment we build follows 3-2-1 architecture with offsite replication, and we test restores — not just backup completion — as part of ongoing management.
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