Disk-to-Disk-to-Cloud: the Future of Backup

By MAXfocus Guest Blog 1

It can’t have escaped your notice that the world of backup is changing. Backup is your data insurance and the process of restoration is how it pays out. As organizations become ever more aware of just what can happen when critical information is lost, leaked or stolen; this heightened fear of data loss places growing demand on backup solutions and backup service providers in turn to ensure the worst doesn’t happen.

As there are numerous ways in which data can be lost; be it human error, theft, a computer virus or a natural disaster. It’s understandable that clients need assurance that no matter what the scenario, their data is both protected and recoverable. And as an MSP it’s your job to give them this assurance – by offering the best possible backup service you can!

Latest research, commissioned by GFI Software, shows that more than half (53 percent) of the organizations surveyed don’t conduct daily backups.  The main reasons behind this were lack of time (32 percent) and that backups are disruptive to workplace productivity (75 percent of IT admins in organizations of 50-99 employees).  The new GFI MAX Backup service, launched in June 2013, takes away these problems with an automatic cloud based solution that can run at any time without any disruption to network users.  Find out a bit more about how Disk to Disk to Cloud could make worrying about backup a thing of the past!

Disk-to-Disk-to-Tape (D2D2T)

For a long time now the combination of disk and tape has been the preferred method for backup, over taking tape-only by offering both speed and reliability.

Quite simply, unlike tape-only with D2D2T data is first saved to a hard drive on-premise before it is replicated to a tape and stored off site. This two tiered approach provides a quick short term recovery option as well as a seemingly more reliable long-term archive.

Although this is clearly a better option than tape only, it is still not the best option available for one simple reason – it relies on tape.

Don’t get us wrong, we liked tape for a lot of years. But the time has come to admit that tape is getting old. Who actually has the time and patience to be dealing with tape copies every day? Not to mention the time to move them off site, encrypt them and recover data from them if something does go wrong.

And it’s not just an issue of how slow tape can be. How many people do you think have lost a tape? Or simply forgotten to make a backup?  Or that a full backup wasn’t possible, because it didn’t fit on the tape? The possibility of human error means that tape is simply not as secure and reliable as it needs to be.

This is where cloud comes in…

Disk-to-Disk-to-Cloud (D2D2C)

As you might expect with a D2D2C approach the tape tier of D2D2T is simply replaced with cloud storage.

There are a number of benefits to storing data over the web rather than on a physical devise the most notable advantage being speed! But what you actually want is insurance that your restore will be 100% successful. When backing up data, the key thing to remember is this: It’s all about the restore. Being able to recover and restore your data is the most important thing to consider when backing up data.

D2D2C provides easier and faster options when it comes to restoring data. Tape and other physical means have downsides in that accessing the data for recovery isn’t easy, especially if the data is secured at an off-site data center and it is still a step-by-step manual process. Cloud solutions facilitate for faster restores since an administrator can easily access and select which files and programs will be done first.

With cloud backup you can significantly reduce the time spent creating backups by automating the entire process. As before a short term backup is stored on premise however, this data is then encrypted and sent in specified increments to a secure location (via the internet of course) – saving time at every level.

By reducing the amount of data which needs to be backed up; you have the insurance that you have a full backup every day within the sometimes time limited backup windows and without slowing down networks, therefore reducing the risk of data loss.

Another benefit to this automation is that it reduces the risk of human error; removing the possibility of a backup tape being forgotten or lost makes D2D2C a much more reliable process. It’s this increased combination of increased speed with added security that makes Cloud the most viable option for long-term backup and disaster recovery.

Are you harnessing the speed of cloud?

If you’re not already making the most of the numerous benefits offered by cloud then it might be time to consider a new approach to your backup service.

GFI MAX have recently launched a new cloud backup product which can help you offer a comprehensive, robust ultra-fast online backup solution to your clients. GFI MAX Backup is reliable, automatic and ultra-secure and best of all it is ready to use alongside your existing remote monitoring and management solution making it easy to deploy and manage.

If you’d like to find out more about what GFI MAX Backup can you for you take a look at some of its features or if you’re ready to forget about tape drives and give cloud a try now why not sign up for a free trial.

GFI MAX offers backup solutions and other offerings for MSPs.