Backups are an essential part of any IT job. Why? Because when a backup is done correctly (and performed regularly), recovering from a disaster is less of a nightmare and more of an inconvenience. Without those backups, your business could be non-operational for some time.

The problem is that most administrators get bogged down with emergencies and other crucial jobs that take them away from giving backups the attention they deserve. When that happens, backups can fail and when a disaster happens you could wind up with data that is too out-of-date to be useful. Imagine having to recover from a failed server with data that’s a week or a month old? That could mean the company’s bottom line might take a big hit. Or, you could be spending far too much time tracking down the necessary data to get the server back up and running.

This can all be avoided, simply by properly managing your backups. Below you’ll find a checklist including seven crucial tasks that you should integrate into your daily routine. While some entries may seem like, common sense, the bigger question is how often do you actually take care of those common-sense tasks? If your answer isn’t “daily,” you’re doing it wrong.