A Glossary of Key Terms in Data Backup & Recovery Methodologies for HR & Recruiting
In the fast-paced world of HR and recruiting, data is paramount. From sensitive candidate information and employee records to crucial payroll details and performance data, safeguarding this information isn’t just a best practice—it’s a fundamental requirement for operational resilience and compliance. Understanding the core concepts behind data backup and recovery is essential for any leader looking to protect their organization’s most valuable assets and ensure business continuity. This glossary demystifies key terminology, explaining why each concept is vital for HR and recruiting professionals.
Data Backup
Data backup refers to the process of copying and archiving computer data so that it can be used to restore the original after a data loss event. For HR and recruiting professionals, this means making secure copies of everything from applicant tracking system (ATS) databases and CRM records to employee contracts, performance reviews, and payroll archives. A robust backup strategy ensures that if primary data sources are corrupted, lost, or inaccessible, your critical HR operations—like onboarding new hires, processing payroll, or accessing historical employee data—can be quickly reinstated. Without reliable backups, a single system failure could lead to catastrophic loss of institutional knowledge and significant compliance risks.
Data Recovery
Data recovery is the process of retrieving and restoring lost, corrupted, accidentally deleted, or inaccessible data from a backup. This is the crucial counterpart to data backup; a backup is only as good as its ability to be recovered. In an HR context, this could involve restoring a batch of mistakenly deleted candidate applications, retrieving historical salary data needed for an audit, or bringing an entire HRIS back online after a system crash. Effective data recovery ensures minimal downtime and disruption to recruiting pipelines and employee management. Testing your data recovery procedures regularly is as important as creating the backups themselves, providing confidence that your HR operations can swiftly bounce back from unforeseen incidents.
Disaster Recovery (DR)
Disaster Recovery (DR) encompasses a comprehensive set of policies, tools, and procedures designed to enable the rapid recovery or continuation of vital technology infrastructure and systems following a natural or human-induced disaster. While data backup and recovery focus on data, DR extends to the entire IT environment. For HR, this means having a plan in place for scenarios like a severe cyberattack that incapacitates your servers, a natural disaster affecting your office, or a major software outage that makes your HR platforms unusable. A solid DR plan ensures HR systems remain operational, critical functions like payroll and benefits administration continue, and employee communication channels stay open during crises, minimizing impact on the workforce and business.
Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
Recovery Point Objective (RPO) defines the maximum tolerable amount of data (measured in time) that an organization can afford to lose from an IT service due to a major incident. For HR, RPO dictates how current your restored data will be. An RPO of four hours, for example, means you can afford to lose up to four hours of data changes. For highly dynamic HR systems like an ATS with constant applicant submissions, a low RPO (e.g., minutes) might be critical to avoid losing new candidate data. For less frequently updated data, a higher RPO might be acceptable. Setting appropriate RPOs for different HR data types helps prioritize backup frequency and resource allocation, ensuring that the most critical data is protected with the highest frequency.
Recovery Time Objective (RTO)
Recovery Time Objective (RTO) specifies the maximum tolerable length of time that a computer system, network, or application can be down after a disaster or failure. RTO is about speed; it answers the question: “How quickly do our HR systems need to be back online?” If your payroll processing system has an RTO of two hours, that means it must be fully operational within two hours of an outage to avoid critical business impact. For HR and recruiting, RTO directly impacts the ability to conduct interviews, process new hires, manage employee queries, or disburse salaries. Establishing clear RTOs for each HR application allows for strategic planning of recovery processes and ensures that business-critical HR functions can resume operations without undue delay.
Cloud Backup
Cloud backup involves storing a copy of an organization’s data on offsite, internet-accessible servers provided by a third-party vendor. This method leverages cloud infrastructure for scalable, secure, and often more cost-effective data storage compared to managing on-premise solutions. For HR and recruiting, cloud backup offers significant advantages, including accessibility from anywhere, which supports remote workforces and distributed teams. It also provides built-in redundancy and security features managed by expert providers, offloading much of the operational burden. Using cloud backup for sensitive HR data—like employee personal information, compliance documents, and applicant details—ensures robust protection and simplifies disaster recovery, making data accessible even if physical offices are impacted.
On-Premise Backup
On-premise backup refers to the practice of storing data backups on hardware physically located within the organization’s own facilities, such as local servers, network-attached storage (NAS) devices, or tape drives. This method gives HR teams complete control over their backup infrastructure and physical data security, which can be appealing for compliance reasons or specific security policies. However, it also requires significant internal resources for hardware maintenance, software management, and environmental controls. For HR data, on-premise backups can offer faster recovery times for local failures but are vulnerable to site-specific disasters like fires or floods. Many organizations adopt a hybrid approach, combining on-premise for immediate recovery with cloud for offsite disaster protection.
Full Backup
A full backup is the process of creating a complete copy of all selected data, irrespective of when it was last changed. While it consumes the most storage space and takes the longest time to complete, a full backup is the simplest and fastest method for data restoration, as only one set of data needs to be retrieved. In an HR context, regular full backups of an entire HRIS, payroll system, or document management system ensure a comprehensive baseline of all employee and organizational data. This approach is typically performed periodically, perhaps weekly or monthly, and forms the foundation upon which more frequent, incremental or differential backups can be built, providing a complete snapshot of all critical HR information at a given point in time.
Incremental Backup
An incremental backup copies only the data that has changed since the *last* backup of any type—whether it was a full, differential, or another incremental backup. This method is highly efficient in terms of storage space and backup time because it only captures recent modifications. For HR and recruiting, incremental backups are ideal for daily operations where small changes occur frequently, such as updates to candidate statuses in an ATS, minor revisions to employee records, or daily entries in a time-tracking system. While incremental backups are fast to create, restoring data requires the last full backup plus all subsequent incremental backups, which can make the recovery process more complex and time-consuming than other methods.
Differential Backup
A differential backup copies all data that has changed since the *last full backup*. Unlike incremental backups, which only reference the immediately preceding backup, a differential backup always references the most recent full backup. This method strikes a balance between full and incremental backups: it’s faster to create than a full backup and faster to restore than an incremental backup, as only the last full backup and the most recent differential backup are needed for recovery. For HR, differential backups can be a good choice for systems with moderate daily changes, offering a quicker recovery path than incremental backups while still conserving storage space compared to daily full backups. It provides a robust middle-ground strategy for maintaining up-to-date HR data archives.
Snapshot
A snapshot is a virtual copy of a system, volume, or dataset at a specific point in time. Unlike a full backup, a snapshot is not a complete, standalone copy of all data but rather a set of pointers to the existing data blocks. This makes snapshots extremely fast to create and restore, often used for quick rollbacks or rapid recovery from minor data issues or failed software updates. In an HR context, snapshots are invaluable before performing major upgrades to an ATS or CRM, migrating large datasets, or making significant configuration changes to a core HR system. If an issue arises, the system can be almost instantly reverted to its previous stable state, minimizing disruption to recruiting workflows or employee services without the overhead of a full data restore.
Data Integrity
Data integrity refers to the maintenance of, and the assurance of the accuracy and consistency of, data over its entire lifecycle. It means that the data is complete, correct, and unchanged from its source, and that it hasn’t been corrupted or tampered with. For HR and recruiting, data integrity is absolutely critical. Imagine candidate profiles with incorrect contact information, payroll records with inaccurate compensation figures, or compliance documents with altered dates—any lack of integrity can lead to significant operational inefficiencies, legal liabilities, and reputational damage. Ensuring data integrity through robust validation, secure storage, and regular auditing is foundational to accurate decision-making, fair employment practices, and regulatory compliance.
Encryption
Encryption is the process of converting information or data into a code to prevent unauthorized access. It’s a fundamental security measure that scrambles data, making it unreadable to anyone without the correct decryption key. For HR and recruiting, encryption is non-negotiable due to the highly sensitive nature of the data handled—personally identifiable information (PII) like social security numbers, bank details, medical information, and performance evaluations. Whether data is at rest (stored on servers or backups) or in transit (moving between systems or users), encryption protects it from breaches, cyberattacks, and unauthorized exposure, helping organizations comply with data protection regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA. Implementing strong encryption practices safeguards privacy and maintains trust.
Business Continuity Plan (BCP)
A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is a comprehensive strategy that outlines how an organization will continue to operate its critical functions and deliver its services after a disruptive incident. Disaster recovery (DR) is a key component of a BCP, focusing specifically on IT systems. For HR and recruiting, a BCP details how essential functions like payroll processing, employee communication, benefits administration, and critical hiring activities will proceed even if normal operations are disrupted by events such as a power outage, pandemic, or cyberattack. A well-crafted BCP ensures that HR can support employees and maintain essential services during crises, minimizing operational downtime and providing reassurance to the workforce that vital support remains available.
Immutable Backup
An immutable backup is a backup copy that, once created, cannot be altered, overwritten, or deleted. This “write once, read many” approach provides an extremely strong defense against data corruption, ransomware attacks, and accidental deletion, as the backup remains in its original state regardless of subsequent actions or threats. For HR and recruiting professionals, immutable backups are invaluable for protecting historical employee records, audit trails, and critical compliance documentation against sophisticated cyber threats. By ensuring that these backups are completely tamper-proof, organizations gain an ultimate layer of assurance that their most sensitive and legally significant HR data is preserved exactly as it was at the time of backup, offering peace of mind in an increasingly risky digital landscape.
If you would like to read more, we recommend this article: Keap Data Protection for HR & Recruiting: Recover Data, Preserve Performance
