Get to Know Data Backup and Data Archive
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit you’ll be able to:
- Explain the difference between data backup and data archive.
- Describe best practices for data storage strategies.
Data Storage in Education
Education institutions manage high volumes of complex, sensitive data like test scores, financial records, grades, and more. Data is constantly coming in and out, and there’s a lot of it. For example:
- Data for prospects who may or may not enroll.
- Student data that needs to be kept for varying lengths of time.
- Alumni data that potentially spans decades.
Schools need to be intentional about the ways they store and manage data. Data storage may seem straightforward until you notice concepts that appear to overlap, like data backup and data archive. Both methods involve storing copies of your institution’s data outside of your Salesforce org, but they aren’t synonymous. In this quick look we clarify the details of each method and outline best practices for both.
Data Backup
When you back up data, you make a copy of the records currently in your institution’s Salesforce org and save the copy elsewhere without changing or removing the original records.
The goal of data backup is to create an accessible copy of your data that can be loaded into your org if your active data gets damaged. Backups should be retained as long as the data they contain is actively used in your Salesforce org. We’re talking to you, Advancement shops!
Here are the key components to a good data backup strategy.
| Component | Description | Best Practices |
|---|---|---|
|
Backup Frequency |
Cadence for creating backup copies of your data |
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Data Security |
Practices that ensure your backups are secure |
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Continuity Plan |
A plan for how to restore your data |
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Data Archive
Like data backups, archived data is stored outside of your Salesforce org, but that's where the similarities end. When you archive data, your goal is long-term storage of records you may need to access for reasons like compliance.
Archived data doesn’t need to be in your active Salesforce org, but it should still be accessible. One common practice is to continue to store aggregates of data in Salesforce even after the supported records are archived. This allows your institution to keep track of useful information, like an alum’s lifetime donation totals, without having to store all of their individual donation records in your production org.
Here are the key components of a good data archive strategy.
| Component | Description | Best Practices |
|---|---|---|
|
Archive Frequency |
Cadence for archiving data in your org |
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Data Security |
Practices for protecting access to archived data |
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Accessibility |
Strategies to ensure archived data is available when needed |
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Which Method Is Right for My Institution?
Most likely, your institution will need to employ both data backup and data archive. Refer to the data storage strategies for each method and consider which types of data would be best served by backups and archives, respectively. When you’re ready to dive deeper into data strategy for education, continue on to the Constituent-Centric Data Strategies for Education module linked in the Resources section.