Short answer: Cloud backup keeps copies of your data off site so you can restore files, mailboxes or systems after they are lost or damaged. Disaster recovery is the plan and technology for getting your whole business running again after a major outage, and it covers how fast and in what order. Backup protects your data. Disaster recovery protects your ability to operate. Most businesses need both, sized to their risk.
“We’ve got backups, so we’re fine” is one of the most common things we hear from small businesses. Sometimes it’s true. Often the backups exist, but nobody has tested a restore, nobody knows how long it would take, and nobody has planned what staff would do in the meantime. This post explains the difference between cloud backup and disaster recovery and how to decide what you need.
What is cloud backup?
Cloud backup copies your data to storage in a cloud provider’s data centre, separate from your office and your main systems. It can cover:
- Files and shared drives
- Microsoft 365 mailboxes, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams
- Servers and virtual machines
- Databases and line-of-business applications
- Laptops and desktops
Good cloud backup is automatic, encrypted, versioned (so you can go back to before a problem started) and protected from deletion. That last point matters most against ransomware.
What is disaster recovery?
Disaster recovery (DR) is about getting the business running again after a serious event, such as ransomware, a server failure, a flood, a fire or a major cloud outage. A DR plan answers:
- Which systems matter most, and in what order do they come back?
- Where will they run if the main environment is unavailable?
- How long can the business cope without each system?
- How much data can you afford to lose?
- Who does what, and how do staff keep working?
DR uses backups, but it adds standby infrastructure, documented procedures and regular testing.
What is the difference between backup and disaster recovery?
| Cloud backup | Disaster recovery | |
|---|---|---|
| Protects | Data | Business operations |
| Main question | Can we get the data back? | How fast can we be working again? |
| Typical event | Deleted file, corrupted mailbox, single server failure | Ransomware, site loss, major outage |
| Recovery speed | Hours to days for full systems | Minutes to hours, depending on design |
| Includes | Copies of data, retention, restore tools | Backups plus standby environment, runbooks and testing |
| Cost | Lower | Higher, scales with speed required |
Backup is a building block of disaster recovery. It doesn’t replace it.
What are RPO and RTO?
Two numbers drive every backup and DR decision:
- Recovery point objective (RPO): how much data you can afford to lose, measured in time. An RPO of 24 hours means a nightly backup is acceptable. An RPO of 15 minutes needs much more frequent replication.
- Recovery time objective (RTO): how long you can afford to be down. An RTO of two days might be met by restoring from backup. An RTO of one hour usually needs a standby environment ready to switch on.
Set RPO and RTO per system, not for the whole business. Your accounting system and your marketing file share probably need very different targets.
Does Microsoft 365 back up my data?
Microsoft keeps the service running and keeps your data available, and it has some retention and recycle bin features. That isn’t the same as an independent, long-term backup you control. Under the shared responsibility model, protecting your data from accidental deletion, malicious insiders and ransomware is largely your job. Many businesses add a dedicated Microsoft 365 backup for this reason. The same principle applies to AWS and Azure: the provider secures the platform, and you protect your data.
How much protection does a small business need?
A practical way to decide:
- List your critical systems. Email, accounting, line-of-business apps, file storage, phones.
- Ask “what happens if this is gone for a day? A week?” Estimate lost sales, wages for idle staff and customer impact.
- Set RPO and RTO for each system.
- Match the solution to the target:
- Long RTO (a day or more): solid cloud backup with tested restores
- Medium RTO (hours): backup plus the ability to spin up servers in the cloud from backup images
- Short RTO (minutes to an hour): replication to a standby cloud environment with a documented failover process
- Check obligations. Contracts, insurers and the Essential Eight’s “regular backups” strategy may set minimum expectations.
What is the 3-2-1 backup rule?
A long-standing rule of thumb: keep three copies of your data, on two different types of storage, with one copy off site. Many businesses now add an extra element: one copy that is immutable or offline, so ransomware can’t encrypt or delete it.
Why do backups fail when you need them?
The most common reasons we see:
- Backups were never tested, and the restore doesn’t work
- Some systems were never included (often Microsoft 365 or a newer cloud app)
- Ransomware reached the backups because they used the same admin credentials
- Retention was too short to go back before the problem started
- Nobody knew the restore process, so recovery took far longer than expected
Regular restore tests fix most of these. Test a file restore at least monthly and a full system restore at least a few times a year.
How does the cloud make disaster recovery easier?
Before the cloud, DR often meant paying for a second server room that sat idle. Cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure and AWS let you keep a recovery environment that costs little until you need it. You replicate data continuously and only pay for full compute when you fail over or test. That puts realistic DR within reach of small and medium businesses.
Cloud backup and disaster recovery in Queensland
Loginet Technologies has helped Queensland businesses for more than four years. We are a Microsoft Partner, AWS Partner and Microsoft Azure Partner, and our 20+ IT experts hold certifications across AWS, Microsoft, Cisco, Palo Alto, Fortinet and CEH. We work from Toowoomba and Bundall on the Gold Coast and support businesses in Brisbane and across Queensland.
See our cloud solutions and our data protection and disaster recovery services. If you’re moving systems as part of the project, our cloud migration team can build backup and DR in from the start.
Frequently asked questions
Is cloud backup enough on its own?
For some very small businesses with low reliance on IT, tested cloud backup may be enough. If being down for more than a day would seriously hurt your business, you also need a disaster recovery plan.
What is DRaaS?
Disaster recovery as a service. A provider replicates your systems to the cloud and manages failover, so you get a standby environment without running your own.
How often should we test disaster recovery?
At least once a year for a full test, with smaller restore tests monthly. Test after any major change to your systems too.
Does disaster recovery cover cyber attacks?
It should. Ransomware is now one of the most likely reasons to invoke DR, so your plan needs clean, isolated backups and steps to make sure you aren’t restoring infected systems.
Where is our backup data stored?
That depends on the service. Many cloud providers, including Microsoft Azure and AWS, have Australian regions, so you can keep backup data in Australia.
Know where you stand
Not sure if your backups would actually get you running again? Let’s talk and we’ll help you set realistic recovery targets and the right mix of backup and disaster recovery.
