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You need to protect your business data. Data backup and data recovery are important parts of running a business. Business owners realize three things quickly: all computer systems crash; all humans error; and disasters happen when least expected or are least prepared for them. A business can be more prepared with having data backup systems in place. These data backup systems are accomplished by either by using an offsite server or using separate drives to store massive amounts of information. Without these data backup systems in place, data recovery becomes a perilous situation where many businesses lose information when the worst happens.

Offsite servers are useful for data recovery as they provide massive amounts of storage for nominal prices especially when comparing the hassle it saves in the event of an information disaster. Having a safe place to put information off of the main business server can prove to be more relieving action in the long run. Data recovery is usually painless. In the rare case where these offsite servers crash usually the offsite servers have backed up the information further onto their own drives. To use an offsite server to protect your business data is one of the more effective methods to keep information safe.

Another effective data backup system is to invest in independent storage drives. Terabyte drives are relatively inexpensive if purchased from discount stores or from high volume stores. Data recovery is easy from these drives as they are basically plug and play. Multiple storage volumes are available from half a terabyte, one terabyte, two terabytes and for the big spenders three or more terabyte drives. Depending on the kinds of data necessary to keep the business running a daily data backup may be necessary. If the data is financial this is almost a certainty. These external drives are invaluable in the need to protect your business data.

Both offsite storage and external drive storage are potential necessities. Which is better is entirely determined upon the business being run. Data backup and data recovery work basically the same way. The real consideration is whether the data storage is needed to be long term or short term and if the short term will cost more than the long term. For offsite storage it is likely to provide more storage, but for recurring payments. For external drive storage it is a one time charge (unless the drive somehow crashes). In the end it is up to you to protect your business data.

We can help you with your questions about which solution is best suited for you. Talk to your Regional Manager or call us today at 800.676.2424.

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Susan, an employee of a major insurance company, clicked on her email at work to open a cute home video her friend Debbie sent. That 20mb video file was then stored in her email and, at the end of the day, was diligently backed up by her company’s data storage solution.

Just one year later after daily backups of Susan’s email, that one video now takes up 7300 MB of space!

The incredible growth in the amount of electronic data generated for both business and personal use has resulted in higher costs for data storage and backup. Several factors have lead to these spiraling cost increases, including storage of larger files such as video and audio, multiple backups of the same files, and enforcement of industry compliance regulations. How often is your company backing up duplicate data over the course of a year?

With the exponential increase in the storage of email, video, mp3 files and other large sized files, business storage needs have grown accordingly. In addition to backing up business information, company computers often end up as the de facto backup for personal music, videos and email, resulting in additional backup storage costs for businesses.

Currently, 75% of documents are stored in email. In 2008 alone, more than 210 billion emails were sent. Backing up the same email attachments sent to different people in the same organization results in increased storage requirements, costs and time for backups.

3 Ways to Control Costs

Using outdated backup methods or limiting your company to tape storage and backup will increase your costs, rather than reduce them. Instead, look for a solution that provides the flexibility and technology that will help you maximize cost savings. Implementing the following cost management techniques may help optimize your storage and backup strategy.

1. Reduce duplication of data
   Increase the speed of your backup operations and reduce storage costs by eliminating the duplication of data and backing up only new and changed data blocks. With tape backup systems and most disk-based backup systems, the same data is often backed up multiple times, resulting in higher data storage needs and an increased storage footprint. By eliminating duplicate data and only backing up the block-level daily changes, less data storage is needed. In addition, the ability to quickly recover data in the case of a disaster will eliminate unnecessary downtime and risk of data loss.
2. Implement flexible data retention policies and schedules
   Flexible retention policies and schedules allow you to determine the appropriate retention time based on the type of data being stored. By setting and managing retention schedules, you control the amount of data you store. For example, Sarbanes Oxley Sec. 802(a) requires that audit or review work papers be retained for a period of five years. This is likely a longer period of time than you might keep non-financial data.
   In addition to length of time, a system that provides the flexibility of different policies for different file types can also assist a company in avoiding storing employees’ personal files such as video files or mp3 files during backup sessions. Eliminating or reducing the amount of time a type of file is saved, especially large video and audio files, can provide significant cost savings.
3. Use one system that works with multiple platforms
   Companies have implemented multiple platforms and applications across different types of servers, operating systems and databases. These organizations are often forced to deploy multiple backup systems to handle each separate platform type. The maintenance time and costs for these systems can really pile up. Having one backup system that can work across different platforms saves time and money, while reducing the complexity of managing and maintaining multiple data storage systems.

For more information on how to reduce the costs of you data backup methods, contact your Regional Manager or call us at 757-545-7675.

*Information supplied by EVault.

The post 3 Ways to Deal with the Cost of Data Growth appeared first on Hackworth.

Reliability.

Up to 71% of restores from tape contain failures.

Best Practice: Use disk-to-disk technology for backups. With disk-to-disk technology, your backup data resides on disk drives, proven to be far more reliable than tapes. When your backup completes, you know the data is secure and accessible on the disk drive. With tapes you never really know if your data is usable until you try to restore it, at which point it’s too late.

Breadth of Offering.

Choice in product and service offerings meet your business’ needs.

Best Practice: Don’t settle for less than what you need. Vendor offerings vary widely. Some are designed primarily for consumers and others for enterprise data centers. Choose a solution that scales (see scalability below), and offers the features you need to provide the level of service you expect. De-duplication and delta-block technologies will improve performance, reduce your data footprint and save you money. Find out if their de-duplication offering is at the file level or the block level. Make sure the solution can back up servers, PCs, and laptops as well your applications.

Security.

60% of organizations using tapes don’t encrypt their backups.

Best Practice: End-to-end encryption with no “back door.” Using encryption with tape makes backups run slowly and often takes too long to fit within a backup window. As a result, most people simply turn encryption off, creating a security risk. Even with the physical safety of disk-todisk backup, encryption is essential. Look for 256-bit AES. Find a solution that encrypts your data during transmission and storage. Make certain there isn’t a “back door” that would let someone else view your data.

Accessibility.

Companies waste thousands of hours waiting on tapes.

Best Practice: Ensure that you can get your data back with minimal delay. You should have direct access to your backups, with no time spent on physical transport (no trucks, no warehouses). Your restores should take minutes, not hours or days. Set yourself up to work with your data, not wait for it. Make sure your solution provider can meet your Return-to-Operations (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) which determine how quickly you can recover your
data and maintain business continuity. Inquire about onsite and offsite replication that provide both improved performance and a solid disaster recovery strategy.

For more information on data backup and recovery best practices call me at 757.646.1529.

Information supplied by EVault.

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