There are growing strategies in the Backup and Recovery Markets, some of which should be carefully considered before implementing in your environment.
Cloud may offer an inexpensive solution, but keep in mind the time spent for setup and transfer of the data. Contractual fine print may be describing days to weeks to recover, especially for large amounts of data. Next is Security, followed by Retention in the Cloud.
Hybrid Solutions are available to those who have limited bandwidth to the Cloud. So you will have your Local Backups and then send the data to a Cloud Provider that works with your Backup Solution. Some even offer hooks into the Major Cloud Storage Providers such as Amazon, Google, and Azure. These providers also have various services for Server Recovery and Operation in the Cloud.
DRaaS is going to continue to grow because not everyone has multiple sites for private fail-over. And testing is challenging to find the time, equipment, and staff.
Downtime has costs and things that you have to consider when putting a plan together. Some topics that you need to understand are Productivity, Revenue, Damaged Reputation, Financial Performance, and Other Expenses.
High Level Site Checklist for properly planning how to incorporate your possible solution. Ranking IT Service Impact, Risks, Acceptable Data Loss, and Recovery Options will get you started in the right direction.
Review your Backup Recovery Plan and make sure all of your computers have protection at some level. Verify Critical Computers and Applications, Management for the RTO/RPO to level set the realistic times for the recoveries. Check with the Internet Provider on your current Bandwidth and Security. Document Test procedures that will show what you can do versus what is being asked for. The documentation will also be great if you need to show Compliance to a regulatory committee.
Biography
Greg Ensenbach, Senior Technical Engineer, Unitrends Black Belt Certified Backup/Recovery Specialist
Greg’s career started in 1995 with working IS/IT in the AS/400 Programming and Consulting arena. He has worked with numerous hardware configurations utilizing IBM, Servers, Networking, etc., and held positions in many vertical industries.
His path changed when he was asked to start and run the IS/IT Department in 2001 at a Milwaukee Manufacturer. The organization had an implementation of a Single AS/400 and a Windows NT4 Server. As this organization was growing, they had decided to combine their 5 Remote Locations into a Single Campus Operation that required New Infrastructure for All Communications. The growth also included a Data Explosion that required Servers, Storage and Data Protection. They had started with Tape Backup, just as many other organizations had, and he assisted the migration to a Disk-to-Disk solution prior to leaving for a Sales Engineer Position with Unitrends, Inc. in 2009. He spent the next 5 plus years refining, selling, and teaching about Backup, Recovery, and Disaster Planning. Then in the summer of 2015, he joined Contingency Planning Solutions, Inc. as a Sr. Technical Engineer to provide new sales and services specifically around the Backup and Recovery Products.
Greg has joined a number of User Groups and Professional Organizations over the past few years to expand his own knowledge and share experiences with others.
April 20, 2016