Backup and Disaster Recovery in Morris County, NJ
Backups that someone checks every day and tests every month.
Most businesses find out whether their backups work on the day they need a file back. We check the status of every backup daily, restore from it once a month to prove it works, and fix problems as they come up, so a dead server, a deleted folder or a ransomware attack doesn't take your files with it. We've been doing this for Morris County businesses since 2014, with more than 30 years of technology experience behind us.
Sound familiar?
"I think we're backed up."
Most businesses that come to Tech Marvel cannot say for certain whether their backups would work. "I think we're backed up" is the answer we hear most. Usually someone set something up years ago, an email says "completed" every night, and nobody has tried to get a file back since.
You're responsible for the company's data, but you can't check the backups yourself, and you shouldn't have to learn how.
The report says "completed." Has anyone opened a file from it?
A finished backup job and a backup you can restore from are two different things.
Nobody's sure who pays the backup bill
If the account lapses, the backups quietly stop. You find out when you need them.
The only copy sits next to the server
Ransomware, a fire or a burst pipe can take out both at once.
You're counting on Microsoft 365 to keep everything
Deleted email and files only stay recoverable there for a limited time. After that, they're gone.
A hard drive dies and that's the first anyone hears of it
Drives usually give warning signs first. Someone has to be watching for them.
From the field
The backup account nobody was watching
A backup protects a business only when someone checks it regularly and makes sure the account stays active.
One of our break-fix customers paid their backup company directly. We had set the backups up, and they worked. Then the person who paid the bills left, the backup invoices stopped getting paid, and the backup company shut the account off. Nobody noticed.
When ransomware took down their server, I went to log into the backup platform to start the restore, and it wouldn't let me in. They lost about five years of files.
The backup itself worked fine. The problem was that nobody was keeping an eye on it, so nobody knew it had been shut off. That's the reason we check our managed clients' backups every day and test a restore every month. If a backup stops for any reason, we know the same day.
What we took from it
We check every backup, every day.
Daily status checks, monthly test restores, and the backup cost built into your monthly fee so it can't quietly lapse.
You shouldn't have to wonder whether your files will be there the day a server dies or someone clicks the wrong link.
And you shouldn't have to manage your IT provider just to find out.
What's covered
What our data backup covers
Tech Marvel backs up your servers, your employees' computers, and your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace email and files, and the standard backup is included in your monthly managed IT fee.
Servers
Full backups of the entire server, kept in two places: a local drive for quick restores and the cloud in case the building or the local copy is lost. The cloud copy is immutable, which means it can't be changed or deleted, even by ransomware. Every backup is encrypted.
Desktops and laptops
Each person's Desktop and Documents folders, plus browser bookmarks. Files sync to OneDrive or Google Drive, so laptops that leave the office are covered too. Saved passwords go in 1Password, which comes with our managed service, instead of the browser.
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
A separate backup of email, OneDrive and SharePoint (or Gmail and Google Drive). When someone deletes something on purpose, or the retention window passes, there's still a copy we can bring back.
What costs extra
A few things aren't included:
- Faster server recovery, where a failed server runs as a virtual machine while the hardware is replaced
- Replacement hardware, like a new drive or server
- Some additional cloud storage
If your business can't wait a day or two for a new server, we could look at a different backup system that runs the server as a virtual machine in the meantime. It costs more, and most of our clients haven't needed it. But it's an option.
Who this is for
Every business with files it can't afford to lose
Every business needs a separate, tested backup, whether it runs its own server or works entirely in the cloud.
Offices with a server on site
The server usually holds shared files, line-of-business data and years of history, so that's where we start.
Cloud-only offices
Working in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace doesn't mean your files are backed up. In 2021, a Microsoft outage left files missing from some SharePoint and OneDrive folders until they were restored. And if ransomware scrambles files on one computer, those changes sync to the cloud like any other edit. A separate backup gives you a clean copy from before the damage.
Businesses that already have an IT person
We can take backups off their plate through co-managed IT: we run the daily checks and monthly test restores, and they keep everything else.
Ransomware goes after backups too. CISA warns that many ransomware variants look for backups they can reach and delete or encrypt them. That's why our backups are kept apart from the systems they protect.
How we know it works
Daily checks, monthly restores, and an early warning on failing drives
A backup is only proven when a file has been restored from it, so Tech Marvel test-restores from client backups once a month. Between tests, we look at backup status every day and fix anything that failed.
Backup failure alerts come in through the same monitoring we use for your network and security, so nothing depends on someone remembering to check an inbox. You know it's handled without ever reading a backup report.
Every day
We check the status of every backup. When one fails, we fix the cause and run it again.
Every month
We restore files from your backups to prove they come back, before you ever need them to.
Early warning
Monitoring tells us when a computer's drive starts to fail. We call you and replace it, usually before anything is lost.
When you call
Need a file, folder or mailbox back? Most restores are done remotely. If the hardware is dead, we come on site anywhere in Morris County.
Restores we've done
What recovery actually looks like
Most restores start with an ordinary problem: a deleted folder, a failing hard drive or an employee on the way out. Here are a few we've handled.
The employee who deleted everything on the way out
Before quitting, an employee deleted their desktop files, documents and some email. The owner had a feeling something was off and called us. We pulled the backups and brought back a few gigs of data.
The drive that warned us first
Our monitoring flagged a hard drive that was starting to fail. We let the customer know, came in the next day, cloned it to a new drive and swapped it out. The employee went back to work as if nothing had happened. We've done this at dealerships and collision centers more than once.
The computer that wouldn't open its own files
A break-fix customer called because a computer wouldn't boot. Then it would, but files wouldn't open and it kept freezing and crashing. Classic signs of a bad hard drive. We recovered the file system and cloned everything to a new drive, and it ran like it should.
On a managed plan, we usually catch that last one when the drive first starts to fail.
From a client
"Outstanding service, very knowledgeable, attentive and reasonable. Honestly wouldn't use anyone else."
Tom JuskusValiant Contracting, LLC
Dealerships and collision centers
What's on the computers in your dealership or shop
A DMS or estimating platform may run in the cloud, but plenty of important dealership and collision center data still sits on local computers and servers. When one of those drives fails without a backup, that data goes with it.
Auto dealerships
- Outlook mailboxes stored on the computer (OST and PST files)
- Local scans and saved reports
- Leads and customer correspondence
Collision centers
- Estimating (EMS) data kept on a PC or the server
- Vehicle damage photos
- Outlook mailboxes, scans and reports
Much of that data includes customer information, so backups are encrypted and so are the computers' drives, using tools like BitLocker. We also recommend keeping as little personal information on local machines as the business actually needs. How this fits your compliance work →
Getting started
Three steps to backups someone actually owns
1
Book a free 20-minute conversation
Tell us how backups are handled today and what's been bothering you about them.
2
We take a look
With your permission, we take a light look at your network and talk through what's being backed up now and where the gaps might be.
3
We take it from here
We set up the backups, check them daily, test them monthly, and become the people you call when something needs to come back.
Not ready to talk yet?
Download our free IT Buyer's Guide to learn what to look for in a technology partner and how to tell when your current IT support is falling short.
Backup testing for dealerships and collision centers
Read more before you need a restore
Auto dealerships
The 4 most expensive backup assumptions New Jersey dealerships make
The backup fire drill every dealership should run
IT for auto dealerships →
Collision centers
The 4 most expensive backup assumptions collision centers make
How do you know your collision center's backups will work?
The IT recovery drill every growing collision center should run
IT for collision centers →
Common questions
Backup and disaster recovery FAQs
What is the difference between backup and disaster recovery?
A backup is a copy of your data. Disaster recovery is getting your business working again after something goes wrong, which means restoring that data and the systems that use it. You need good backups to recover, but a backup on its own doesn't get your people back to work. That's why we test restores.
What does backup cost?
Standard backup is included in Tech Marvel's per-user managed IT fee and the per-server fee, so there's no separate backup bill to keep track of. The per-user price depends on the plan you choose, and we'll walk through it on a free IT Roadmap call. Faster server recovery, replacement hardware and some additional cloud storage cost extra.
How often do you test our backups?
Tech Marvel test-restores from client backups once a month. We also check backup status every day and fix any backup that failed, so a problem gets fixed within a day of when it started.
Where are our server backups stored?
Server backups are kept in two places: on a local drive, for faster restores, and in the cloud, in case the building or the local copy is lost. They're full backups, and the cloud copy is immutable, which means it can't be changed or deleted, even by ransomware.
Doesn't Microsoft 365 already back up our email?
Microsoft 365 keeps deleted email and files for a limited time, but it is not a separate backup. Once that window passes, or if someone deliberately deletes things before leaving, the data can be gone. We keep a separate backup of email, OneDrive and SharePoint (or Gmail and Google Drive) so it can still come back.
How long does it take to restore?
It depends on what you're restoring. A deleted file, folder or mailbox is usually a quick remote restore. A whole server takes longer, because all the data has to come back and the hardware may need replacing. If you can't wait a day or two for a new server, we can talk about a backup system that runs it as a virtual machine in the meantime. It costs more, and most of our clients haven't needed it.
What happens if a backup fails?
We find out the same day. Failed backups show up in our daily check and in our monitoring alerts, and we fix the cause and run the backup again. You don't have to read backup reports or forward us anything.
We already have an IT person. Can you just handle backups?
Yes. We offer co-managed IT, where we take on specific pieces like backups and monitoring and work alongside your internal person. Let us know what they want to keep and what they'd like off their plate.
Are laptops covered when people work from home?
Yes. Desktop and Documents folders sync to OneDrive or Google Drive, and that cloud data is backed up separately, so a laptop doesn't need to be in the office to be protected.
Are our backups encrypted?
Yes. Tech Marvel encrypts every backup, and we encrypt the drives in your computers too, using tools like BitLocker. We also recommend keeping as little personal information on local machines as the business actually needs, so there's less to protect in the first place.
Do you come on site in Morris County?
Yes. Most restores are done remotely, but when hardware fails we come on site throughout Morris County and across New Jersey to replace it and get people working again.
Stop wondering whether the backups work.
When someone asks whether the company is backed up, you can say yes and mean it.
Get a free IT Roadmap and find out what's being backed up today and what isn't.
