3-2-1 backup architecture with immutable cloud storage and tested recovery — backups that actually restore.
TechAssist has supported hundreds of Australian SMEs across construction, manufacturing, logistics, law firms, mining, and professional services. We design, deploy, and manage backup and disaster recovery for Melbourne SMEs — backups that actually restore, not just “the icon goes green at midnight”.
The dirty truth: most SME backups don’t work. Not because the software’s bad, but because nobody tests them. The job runs, the icon goes green, the report says “Success” — then ransomware hits and the backup either isn’t recent enough, isn’t isolated from the network, or won’t restore. We’ve built our backup service around the problem that actually matters: can you actually recover?
Three layers. Tested recovery, not just successful backups.
01
What you’re protecting, what you’d lose if it went tomorrow, what recovery time and recovery point objectives the business actually needs. We design backup architecture around RTO/RPO, not vendor marketing.
02
3-2-1 architecture: three copies, two media types, one offsite. Cloud backups in immutable storage that ransomware can’t reach. Encrypted at rest and in transit. Tested before we hand over.
03
Quarterly restore tests with documented results. Monthly job-success reports. Annual full disaster-recovery simulation. You get the paperwork insurers and auditors now require.
Every layer your business could need to recover — from a deleted file to a full ransomware event.
The 3-2-1 rule has been the gold standard for 20 years: three copies of your data, two on different media, one offsite. Most SMEs are at 1-1-1 — one backup, on the same kind of storage, in the same building. That’s not a backup architecture. That’s a hope.
We build proper 3-2-1: production data on your servers (copy 1), local backup on different storage in your office (copy 2), and immutable cloud backup in Australian-hosted storage (copy 3). Cloud backup is air-gapped from your network — ransomware can’t reach it even if it owns every machine in your office.
Every MSP runs backups. Few test that they actually restore. The first time you find out your backups don’t work shouldn’t be when you need them. We run quarterly restore tests against real data, prove the restored systems boot, prove data integrity, and document the results. When it’s time to renew cyber insurance or pass an audit, you have the evidence.
Annual full disaster-recovery simulations go further — restoring your entire production environment to isolated infrastructure, validating recovery procedures end-to-end, and timing actual RTO. Most clients are surprised how close their real recovery time is to target (or how far off, and where to fix it).
The ransomware playbook in 2026 is industrialised: encrypt production, then go hunting for the backups. Variants like LockBit specifically target backup software, network shares, and any backup storage they can reach over SMB.
We architect against this. Backup destinations are isolated from the production network. Cloud backups use immutable storage that no admin account can delete from for the retention period. Backup credentials are separate from domain admin accounts. We’ve never had a client lose backups to ransomware — and we audit the architecture quarterly to keep it that way.
Book a free consultation with our team. No pressure, no jargon — just a clear-eyed look at where you stand and what's possible.