10 Reasons to Use an Online Backup Solution

Businesses of all sizes now totally rely on on data stored on PCs, laptops and servers.  Because data loss disasters can happen at any time every business needs to have a iron clad backup and restore strategy. Below are 10 reasons why businesses should consider and online backup solution instead of a traditional in-house tape or disk backup solution.

Cost - No initial cost.  In this day and age most businesses avoid large capital expenditure. An online backup solution runs on a SaaS basis meaning you only pay a small and easy to budget monthly fee. Additionally the initial start-up process is immediate. Usually, a backup agent is loaded on each device you wish to backup and the scheduling/backup process can begin the same day.  With most traditional backup process there has to be manual intervention, checking backups have worked, verifying backups and taking media offsite, all this manual input is negated with an online backup solution.

Security - Data is stored on disk within multiple highly secure data centres, not on local tapes. Tape backup has is renowned for being unreliable and failures and usually happens when the backup process is running.  Additionally the software driving the tape does not usually encrypt data and coupled with the fact tape media should be removed offsite, this can cause a serious security breach if you tapes are misplaced.  All online backup solutions offer high levels of encryption which secure data whilst it is being transferred and stored.  In short, the only persons who should be able to access your data are your authorized members of staff.

Scalable - Backup quotas can be increased or decreased within seconds of request so you do not need to plan or the future.  If you are investigating implementation of a tape or disk backup solution you need to work out how much data you may have in 3 years time.  Invariable this means purchasing hardware capacity which may not be required for 2 years.  Using an online backup solution you can start with the smallest account to suit your immediate requirements and upgrade over time as your data grows.

Availability - Disaster always strikes at the most inopportune time, so data should always be available for restore at any time day or night.  There is no need to send a member of staff home tape or retrieve media from an inaccessible fire proof safe (see Bunsfield Report News).  Using an online backup solution data is accessible and can be restored to the original location or to any other number of devices simultaneously anywhere in the world.

Easy Restore - Data loss can occur for many reasons, accidental deletion of files or folders, virus, hardware failure.  Whatever the reason the recovery process can be initiated immediately via the backup software, via the providers portal of via local disk which has been sent from your supplier.  At the time of total data loss a reputable provider should be able to send data on a disk for delivery within 12 working hours.  Whatever restore process you use data can be restored with a few clicks of your mouse.

Automated - Once the backup software is installed and configured the whole data protection process is fully automated thereafter. There are no external medias to manage and human intervention is totally negated enabling staff to carry out their required duties.

Technology - Online backup now offers the highest levels of functionality which can be tailored to meet the requirements of any businesses.   Volume Shadow Copy enable backup of open files or databases such as Microsoft Exchange, SQL, Lotus, MySQL.  Continuous data protection will enable data to be backed up as it changes.  Brick Level Backup enables mail level backup and restore of a Microsoft Exchange Backup.  In-file delta enables block level incremental backups of data.  Synthetic restore allows a file or database to be restored as a single file even though it has been backed up intementally.  All the above functionality offers total data protection and the easiest restore process.

Versioning - Any number of versions of a file or folder can be stored.  Versioning can work as an virtual advanced tape rotation, live data can be restored for 60 days, a monthly backup can be stored for 12 versions (1 year) and then annual backups can the stored for 10 versions (10 years).  This is an ideal solution for institutions which need to keep a track/timeline of data over a long period of time.

Compliance - As with any large emerging market there are now various legislations and regulations (SAS 70, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, HIPAA, BSA, SOX and SEC|NASD to name a few) an online backup provider has to adhere to.   These legislations are in place to ensure the privacy, accessibility, and retention of information.  All reputable providers will comply with such legistlation therefore offer businesses the total comfort knowing their data is securely stored for as long as required.

Energy Efficient - The more hardware you have on site, the more energy you will use.  Modern online backup providers utilize the latest virtualisation, blade and environmental technologies to minimise power usage.  Because of their infrastructure server, per mhz, and storage, per GB, is 50% more energy efficient than a standard single server located in an average office.

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