I work at an office where our data is very very important. Obviously the more backup the better, but I'm curious as to how much you think is bare minimum and what you think is overkill. I'm not particularly on-to-it with server/backup knowledge and terminology, so forgive me if I do not describe what we have correctly, but I'm our de facto geek - the best of a weak bunch!
We each run our own PC's with all word documents / emails saved on our server. We also have Remote Desktops we can log into if we wish (when off-site or hot desking), running from our server. We have 2 servers. Each has its own specific functions, but those are always replicated on the other, so we can make do with just one if need be (for redundancy). One is usually between 0-3 years old. When it gets replaced with a new one, it gets used as a backup for years 3-6, and the old backup server goes the way of the dinosaurs.
Our Client Relationship Management software stores our saved emails, letters, PDF's etc. We backup all CRM documents and emails off-site, although we do not currently backup an image of the server itself. I'm told this means if we lose both servers at once and want an urgent replacement it may take up to a week to re-install and configure all our programs and copy the documents back across, whereas if we have a current backup image of the server itself it can simply be cloned to a new server and we can have that in place within the hour if need be.
I guess my questions are this:
1) Are we dumb for not doing a backup image of the server and saving this offsite several times a day? Should this be costly?
2) If we do (1), do we need to run two servers?
3) Would you be storing your backup off-site locally, or in a different city altogether?
4) What do you do? What would you do if you were me (considering it's a business and cost is an important factor!)?
Cheers in advance for your help guys