CLOUD & DATA · BACKUP & RECOVERY · HOUSTON, TX

Backup & Disaster Recovery in Houston

A backup is not real until someone restores from it. We build backups that ransomware cannot delete, test the restores on a schedule, and write down how much data you can lose and how long you can be down before it hurts.

The Problem

Ask most Houston owners whether they have backups and the answer is yes. Ask when the last successful restore happened and the room gets quiet. The backup software sends a green report that nobody opens, the copy lives on a device sitting in the same building as the servers it protects, and the credentials used to run it are the same administrator account an attacker would take first. That combination fails in exactly two situations that matter here: ransomware, which hunts backups before it encrypts anything, and water, which does not care how good the software was. Recovery targets are rarely written down at all, so when something breaks there is no agreement about what fast enough means, only frustration.

The Solution

Sentinel-Pros designs backup around the two failures that actually take companies down: an attacker with your credentials, and a building you cannot enter. Copies go to storage that cannot be altered or deleted within a retention window, held under separate credentials from your production environment, with at least one copy out of the building. Recovery point and recovery time objectives get set per system with your input, because losing a day of accounting entries and losing a day of field tickets are not the same problem. Restore tests run on a schedule and produce a record you can hand an insurer, an auditor, or a customer. Delivery is remote, and Houston is home base, so we are on-site across the metro when hardware, appliances, or a physical seeding of data needs hands.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

Core Responsibilities

Backups built to survive an attacker

Immutable cloud copies that cannot be modified or deleted during the retention window, even with administrator credentials
Separate identity and credentials for the backup platform so a compromised domain account does not reach your last good copy
Coverage for Microsoft 365 mail, Teams, and SharePoint, which the platform does not back up for you

Recovery you have actually rehearsed

Scheduled test restores of files, mailboxes, databases, and full servers, each with a written result
Documented recovery point and recovery time objectives per system, agreed with leadership rather than assumed
Runbooks naming who declares a disaster, who executes the recovery, and who tells customers and staff

Storm and flood readiness

At least one copy outside the building and outside the region exposed to the same weather event
Failover options for the systems that cannot wait, so critical work continues while the office is dark
Annual review before hurricane season, including staff contact paths that do not depend on your office phones
HOW IT WORKS

Engagement Process

01

Rank what matters

We list your systems and data with the people who use them, then rank recovery order by business impact. Not everything needs to come back in the first hour, and pretending otherwise makes plans useless.

02

Set targets in writing

For each system we agree how much data you can afford to lose and how long you can be without it. Those numbers drive the design and the cost, and they end arguments later.

03

Build the copies

Immutable storage, separated credentials, off-site retention, and Microsoft 365 protection get deployed and verified against the targets you approved.

04

Test, report, repeat

Restores are exercised on a schedule and documented. Results go to leadership, gaps get fixed, and the plan is reviewed before each storm season.

SPECIALIZED SERVICES

More for Houston Businesses

FAQ

Common Questions

Ransomware encrypted a company we know. Would our backups have survived?

Only if they were immutable and held under credentials separate from your network. Modern ransomware looks for backup servers and cloud consoles first and deletes what it finds. Immutability means the copy cannot be removed inside the retention window no matter whose password the attacker has.

Our data is in Microsoft 365. Is that already backed up?

Microsoft keeps the service running and protects its own infrastructure. It does not protect you from a deleted mailbox, a compromised account emptying folders, or retention that lapses before you notice the loss. Tenant backup is a separate product and we include it.

Our office took on water in a past storm. How does that change the design?

It moves the primary copy out of your building and out of the affected region, and it puts real weight on how staff work while the office is unreachable. We also plan for the days after, when power is back but internet or access is not. That planning happens before June, not during a warning.

How often do you actually test restores?

On a documented schedule that scales with your risk, with additional tests after any major system change. Each test produces a record showing what was restored and how long it took. That record is what satisfies insurers, auditors, and customers who ask the question.

Can you work with the backup product we already own?

Often yes. If the platform supports immutability, credential separation, and reliable off-site retention, we operate it rather than replace it. If it cannot meet the targets you set, we will tell you plainly and show you the difference. Pricing is scoped on a discovery call as a fixed monthly retainer.

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Backup & Disaster Recovery for Houston, Texas

Houston is a city where the disaster part of disaster recovery is not hypothetical. Harris County businesses plan around named storms, street flooding, and multi day power loss as a normal cost of operating here, and IT is usually the last function to get that treatment. A distributor or fabricator in Pasadena or along the Ship Channel loses order entry and shipping paperwork the moment its server room takes water, and its plant customers do not extend deadlines for weather. A medical practice or imaging group near the Texas Medical Center has patient records under HIPAA retention obligations, so a lost backup is both an operational failure and a regulatory one. Energy services and engineering firms in the Energy Corridor hold project files and field data that represent months of billable work, often on shares that grew faster than anyone protected them. Freight forwarders and terminal operators near the Port of Houston run on scheduling and EDI systems where a day of downtime cascades into demurrage and missed vessel windows. Aerospace suppliers around NASA Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake carry contract data with retention and handling requirements attached. Add ransomware, which arrives regardless of weather, and the two threats point at the same answer: copies an attacker cannot reach, stored somewhere the storm is not, and restores that somebody has already practiced.

See the statewide overview of Backup & Disaster Recovery or all services available in Houston.