Skip to main content

Local Backup: A Complete Guide to Fast, Convenient Business Backup - Rtek

A complete guide to local backup for businesses. Learn the pros and cons, how to choose a solution, and how to implement local backup the right way.

Rtek February 1, 2025 7 min read
backups local backup data recovery cybersecurity maintenance

Local Backup: A Complete Guide to Fast, Convenient Business Backup

Local backup is one of the most common and most important types of backup for businesses. It gives you fast recovery and full control, and it doesn’t depend on the internet. In this article we explain what local backup is, why it matters, how to choose a solution, and how to implement it the right way.

What Is Local Backup?

Local backup is a backup stored on a physical device inside the business or close to it. That can be an external hard drive, a local server, or a NAS (Network Attached Storage) system.

Types of Local Backup

External hard drive:

  • A USB or Thunderbolt drive
  • Simple and inexpensive
  • A good fit for small businesses

Local server:

  • A server dedicated to backups
  • Powerful and reliable
  • A good fit for medium and large businesses

NAS (Network Attached Storage):

  • A network storage system
  • Accessible from every computer on the network
  • A good fit for businesses with several computers

Tape Backup:

  • Backup to tape cartridges
  • Suited to very large volumes of data
  • Less common today

Why Local Backup Matters

Advantages of Local Backup

Fast recovery:

  • Data is available immediately, with no need to download it from the cloud
  • Recovery can take minutes instead of hours or days
  • Critical for businesses that need to get back to work quickly

No dependence on the internet:

  • Works even without an internet connection
  • Unaffected by connectivity problems
  • Fast recovery even when the internet is down

Full control:

  • You control the data
  • No dependence on a cloud provider
  • You can configure everything exactly the way you want

Predictable costs:

  • A one-time payment (or a low periodic one)
  • No accumulating monthly fees
  • Predictable costs over the long term

Performance:

  • Faster than cloud backup
  • Not limited by your internet speed
  • Suited to large volumes of data

Disadvantages of Local Backup

Vulnerable in the same location:

  • If there’s a fire, theft, or disaster, the backup can be damaged too
  • You need to keep an additional copy somewhere else
  • Not protected against local disasters

Requires physical maintenance:

  • You need to check that the device is working
  • You need to replace old devices
  • It requires ongoing attention

Limited capacity:

  • Every device has limited capacity
  • You need to replace devices or add more
  • It can’t scale infinitely

Not accessible remotely:

  • You have to be physically on site to access it
  • You can’t restore remotely
  • Not a good fit for remote work

How to Choose a Local Backup Solution

Factors to Consider

Amount of data:

  • How much data do you need to back up?
  • How much is it expected to grow?
  • What capacity do you need?

Budget:

  • How much are you willing to invest?
  • A one-time payment or monthly?
  • Ongoing maintenance costs?

Complexity:

  • How many computers do you need to back up?
  • How many servers?
  • How complex is the technology?

Recovery speed:

  • How fast do you need to recover?
  • What downtime is acceptable?
  • What’s critical to the business?

Types of Solutions

For small businesses (up to 500GB):

  • An external hard drive
  • Simple and inexpensive
  • Easy to maintain

For medium businesses (500GB - 5TB):

  • A NAS or a local server
  • More powerful and reliable
  • Centralized management

For large businesses (5TB+):

  • A dedicated server or an advanced NAS system
  • Very powerful and reliable
  • Professional management

How to Implement Local Backup the Right Way

Implementation Steps

1. Planning:

  • Understand what needs to be backed up
  • Understand how much data there is
  • Understand how often you need to back up

2. Choosing a solution:

  • Choose the type of device
  • Choose the capacity
  • Choose the software

3. Installation:

  • Install the device
  • Configure the software
  • Check that everything works

4. Configuration:

  • Define what to back up
  • Define the frequency
  • Define version retention

5. Testing:

  • Check that the backup works
  • Test a restore
  • Check that everything is in order

Backup Frequency

Daily backup:

  • Recommended for most businesses
  • You lose at most one day of data
  • A good balance between safety and complexity

Hourly backup:

  • For businesses whose data changes constantly
  • You lose at most an hour of data
  • Requires more resources

Continuous backup:

  • For businesses with highly critical data
  • You lose at most minutes of data
  • Requires a lot of resources

Version Retention

Daily versions:

  • Keep a backup from every day
  • Lets you go back days
  • A good balance between retention and storage space

Weekly versions:

  • Keep a backup from every week
  • Lets you go back weeks
  • Saves space

Monthly versions:

  • Keep a backup from every month
  • Lets you go back months
  • Saves a lot of space

Ongoing Maintenance

Periodic Checks

Daily check:

  • Check that the backup ran
  • Check that there are no errors
  • Check that there’s enough space

Weekly check:

  • Test restoring files
  • Check that everything is in order
  • Check performance

Monthly check:

  • A full restore test
  • A device health check
  • A performance check

Replacing Devices

When to replace:

  • The device is full
  • The device is old (3-5 years)
  • The device shows signs of problems

How to replace:

  • Back up all the data
  • Replace the device
  • Transfer the data
  • Check that everything works

Combining It with Cloud Backup

Local backup on its own isn’t enough. We recommend combining it with cloud backup:

Local backup:

  • For fast recovery
  • For day-to-day work
  • For critical data

Cloud backup:

  • For protection against local disasters
  • As a safety-net backup
  • For important data

The combination:

  • Local + cloud backup = maximum protection
  • There’s always a way to recover
  • Fast recovery + maximum protection

A Managed Solution with Rtek

At Rtek, we provide a fully managed local backup solution, including integration with cloud backup according to the 3-2-1 rule (explained in detail in our backup guide):

What’s Included?

Planning:

  • Needs assessment
  • Choosing the right solution
  • Planning the backup processes

Implementation:

  • Installing the device
  • Configuring the software
  • Setting up the backup processes

Ongoing management:

  • Backup monitoring
  • Periodic checks
  • Ongoing maintenance

Support:

  • 24/7 professional support
  • Fast response to problems
  • Help with recovery

Why a Managed Solution?

Local backup requires ongoing maintenance and technical expertise. A managed solution ensures:

  • The backup is configured correctly
  • Maintenance is ongoing and organized
  • You always have a working backup
  • You save time and budget

Summary

Local backup is an important part of any backup setup. It gives you fast recovery and full control, and it doesn’t depend on the internet.

Combining local backup with cloud backup gives you maximum protection: fast recovery plus protection against disasters.

If you want to implement professional, managed local backup, we at Rtek are here to help. Contact us for a tailored quote.